Monomoth
by Ohtze
Summary: Everything ends, eventually. Eight years after the war, Sakura's unhinged and Sasuke's obsessed. The fields are filled with corpses. AUish, Sakura-centric.
1. The Lingering

Chapter I: The Lingering

* * *

><p>There was an itch beneath her skin.<p>

It wasn't a full-on itch – more like a dull throbbing that made her bones ache and her insides clench – but it was annoying all the same, as Sakura had felt it before. She'd never quite figured out what it was linked to. She **should** have, she knew. Medic-nins usually did_._ As the thought struck her, there was an unpleasant clenching sensation around her throat that made it hard to breathe.

_Medic-nin. I'm a medic-nin. Remember that._

"Haruno-san!" exclaimed her assistant rather loudly, and at that moment Sakura felt a sharp twinge along the underside of her fingers, the sensation slightly delayed.

Dull-eyed and expression slack, she looked down with acerbic interest, observing the single line of red that was tracking its way diagonally across her fingertips. It was surgically precise, but deep enough she was gushing blood. In her other hand, the light green of her chakra scalpel flickered before shutting off.

For a moment, Sakura didn't quite understand what she was seeing. The world expanded then contracted around her, and she was almost entranced by redness as it trailed between the spaces of her fingers and casually dripped onto the floor. The room suddenly seemed much too bright, over-saturated and full of sound. If she strained her ears, she could actually hear the birds chirping outside her lab's shuttered window. She never heard them anymore.

Then, reality came crashing down, and with it, the itching. She'd been dissecting a rat for a new project of hers, and now she'd cut herself and gotten blood all over everything of importance.

_Fuck_.

"Well, that sample's ruined." Sakura deadpanned, pushing back from her workstation and grabbing a nearby towel to wipe the blood away with mild disgust. Her lab assistant – a small, sandy-haired nin by the name of Jiro who didn't look a day over seventeen – watched her with budding dismay. Sakura tried to send him an apologetic smile, atrophied facial muscles twitching in vain as she made to complete the motion, but she couldn't do it. Couldn't even attempt a fake one. The gesture felt alien to her.

Still, she apologized. She'd just ruined a day's worth of work, and she shouldn't have been that careless. Not at her age.

"Sorry." She said. "I'll find us a new sample. We'll start again in an hour, yes?"

Jiro's expression was almost hurt.

"Are you…" Sakura sat there, waiting patiently for the question she knew he wanted to ask. It was always the same concern. "Are you alright, Haruno-san?"

"I'm fine." She murmured blandly, looking at a spot just over his shoulder. "Why wouldn't I be?"

His expression twisted, just a bit, and the nin pointed to her cupped hand, facing upward and pooling with red.

"You're still bleeding."

Sakura looked down at her fingers, then let out a soft sigh of surprise. She hadn't even felt it. Reaching over with her other hand, she let the green once more flare to life. The cut was deep but nothing serious, and it healed easily, leaving behind clear skin and a vague sensation of _tightness_ where the separation had been. Sakura wiped away the rest of the blood with a wet cloth.

"See?" She said, and this time she didn't try to smile, sitting blank faced and straight backed as she raised her hand for inspection. "No problem. Everything's good."

"Haruno-san –" Her assistant began, wringing his hands, but Sakura wasn't really interested in talking anymore. Talking took up too much energy, and she was sort of tired these days. The itch was back. She stood, collecting her clipboard and lab coat.

"Three hours." She said. "Get some lunch, alright? I'll see you then." Jiro was silent as she walked away.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're alright, Forehead?" Ino asked her that night, when they met for dinner after their respective shifts. "You've been looking a little less… uhh, <em>pink<em> these days."

Ino's own forehead was scrunched slightly in a frown, her blond brows furrowed as she absently twirled her noodles around the utensils scraping the inside of her bowl. Between Sakura's hands rested a cup of tea, untouched and steaming. Above them the rain pattered down in an endless torrent across the café's tiled rooftop. The streetlamps flickering in the humid summer gloom.

It was nearly eleven in the evening, and the only people still out and about were other Konoha nins. Sakura liked the familiarity, but she didn't like the _nin_ part. It always meant there were more questions that she'd have to avoid. Her own forehead furrowed, but her hands remained loosely clasped around her teacup, her back painfully straight as she stared unblinkingly at her long-time friend. Her baby pink hair was loose and slightly lank beneath her hood.

"My hair doesn't change colors, Pig." She said, and she was able to mimic the sound of fondness better than a smile. "As much as I'd prefer a more flattering shade, I'm kind of stuck with it."

Across from her, Ino glared fiercely and leaned forward, gripping her chopsticks tightly between her fingers. Ino had nice fingers, Sakura thought absently, long and tapered with porcelain pale skin that she would have killed for when they were younger. Her own skin was incredibly drab.

"Don't be stupid." Ino snapped, keeping her voice low and eyes shifting to the side. In a village full of nins, things like privacy were hard to come by. "You **know** what I mean, and it's not –" She paused as a kunoichi sauntered past, her long brown hair swinging in a ponytail behind her back as she pushed open the front door and cursed at the rain. A second later she flickered across the street to clamber onto a nearby roof. "You're just different, alright? Are you sure nothing's up?"

Sakura shrugged and finally took a sip of her tea. She knew how interrogations worked, and she was good at avoiding them these days. They just took a lot of effort.

"I don't know." She admitted, and it was the truth. A little bit of truth tossed into the mix always threw Ino off. "I am a bit tired with the hospital, and I think I might need a change of scenery. I've been thinking of asking the Hokage for a long-term assignment. You know, something that lasts a year or two."

"Two **years**?"

"What?! It's not that bad. Anbu do it all the time."

"Yeah, but you're head of the hospital, now. You're kind of needed here."

Sakura shrugged and took a sip of her tea. She was careful to avoid Ino's eyes.

"Shizune's there. They'll be fine without me."

Ino scoffed with what sounded like incredulity, sending Sakura a glare before slurping loudly on her noodles. The long strands quickly disappeared between her lips. Sakura thought they looked a bit like worms, or stretched-out maggots. For a moment, Ino's bowl wasn't full of food, but writhing insects, convulsing as they boiled alive in the broth. She felt sick as she looked at it.

Ino nodded to the teacup between Sakura's hands.

"Are you going to eat?"

Sakura shook her head and took another sip, keeping her eyes off the bowl.

"No. I ate earlier." She'd had an apple for breakfast, but food wasn't working so great with her stomach these days, so it hadn't gone over very well. For lunch she'd had a coffee, which went better.

Ino finished slurping up her latest mouthful of noodles. As she did so, she gave Sakura a suspicious glare, but let the subject drop and gestured to her hood.

"What's with these hoods all of a sudden?"

Sakura grimaced automatically, reaching up to self-consciously tug on the edge and hide her face even further. Belatedly, she tried to school her expression into something neutral, but she was a nin and so was Ino, and in a village full of nins that sort of discomfort was easily discernible.

"It's the pink, you know?" She said slowly, deciding to be truthful yet again. "People see it, and they want to come over and talk. And I'm busy these days."

Ino's look was unimpressed. "You're a ninja." She deadpanned. "Just henge it, for fuck's sake."

Sakura waved her hand and tried to act dismissive.

"Too much effort for something so small. Hoods are easier to deal with. Besides, my eyes have been hurting a bit. I think I've got some mild photo-sensitivity."

"Are you **sure** you're alright?" Ino demanded. There was a queer sort of urgency to her tone, like she was actually worried about her, which was utterly ridiculous. Immediately Sakura discarded the notion.

"I'm fine." She joked. She didn't smile, but she made sure to modulate her voice so that she came off as sarcastic. "I'm holed up in the hospital all day under fluorescent lighting. It's enough to turn anyone into a mole."

Ino seemed displeased, but didn't push the subject. Behind Sakura's back the doorbell chimed as the entrance opened. A trio of nins in jounin gear walked in; all shinobi, smelling of cigarette smoke and bushfire as they laughed amongst themselves. They were in a good mood, but Sakura couldn't find it in her to be envious of them. Laughter was hard to come by as you got older, she'd learned.

"How's Naruto doing?" Ino asked conversationally. Sakura shrugged, making sure to keep her eyes glued to the table. The worms were still in Ino's bowl.

"The Hokage is fine. Wearing less orange these days, more white."

Ino nodded, pleased with the notion, then said – "He's a dead ringer for the Yondaime, eh? Bet he likes that." Sakura shrugged. She didn't know, to be honest. She didn't talk to him any more than was necessary.

"I saw Sai yesterday." Ino said, switching topics. When Sakura looked up in surprise, Ino made a _hnn_ noise in confirmation and slurped up another mouthful of worms. "He called me a bitch."

_Noodles, _Sakura reminded herself. _They're noodles. Keep it together. _Still, the bowl squirmed.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Sakura frowned at that. "Sorry." She said, and she meant it. "I thought he was getting better with the lies."

"Bang up job you're doing there, then." Ino joked, not seeing the way her expression tightened further. "He's still calling you _ugly_."

The word didn't even hurt anymore – the truth didn't, Sakura found – but the acknowledgement of her inadequacy did. If she wasn't good at her job, people got killed, and that was unacceptable. Trying to still the shaking in her hands, she carefully raised the teacup to her lips, taking a large gulp and letting the hot liquid scald her. It woke her up a bit.

"He's part of Sasuke's team, isn't he?" Ino said, a note of interest to her tone. "Does that mean they're both back in town?"

From the back of the café, there was a peal of laughter and the sound of chair legs scraping across the floor as one of the jounins threw his head back in amusement, slapping his thigh before taking a bite of his meal. Sakura didn't want to correct Ino – it would lead to more talking, and she was **tired** – but her perfectionist's streak refused to be tempered.

"He works under Uchiha's division. But no, they're not on the same team."

"Hnh." Said Ino. Outside, the downpour had increased, and sitting as they were right by the open windows, the patter of the rain was thunderous. "How **is** Sasuke doing, by the way?"

"I don't know." Sakura said. "I haven't talked to him in a while."

"How long's 'a while?'"

Sakura furrowed her brow, thinking. "Nine months, maybe? Ten?"

Ino's look was incredulous. Sakura managed to summon the energy needed for a scowl.

"What?" She said defensively. "It's totally natural! We work in different parts of the village, with different command structures. We have no reason to see each other at all."

Ino's expression turned sad, sort of. Sakura couldn't figure out why.

"Yeah, but you're on the same team." She said slowly, as if she was talking to a small child who was missing the point. Sakura didn't like it. She shook her head and took a sip of tea. It burned going down her throat, but the pain felt good. It kept her awake. Outside, there was a peal of thunder. Sakura almost expected to hear the chirping of birds, but there was none. She almost never heard the birds, now.

"We haven't been on a team in years." She said.

Ino mercifully dropped the subject.

* * *

><p>By the time she got home, Sakura was soaked to the bone and sick to her stomach. Still, she went through her daily ritual, as safety was important. If she didn't watch her back, someone else was liable to get killed because of her foolishness. At her age, that level of incompetence was unacceptable.<p>

First she walked up the front steps to her apartment, checking for traps and tags and wires. Then, she circled the perimeter twice before slipping through the back window near her bed, after which she made a clockwise loop around her room, searching for any additional ambush.

There was nothing that night, just like there had been nothing for the last two thousand, five hundred and fifty-five nights, but one could never be too careful. Quickly, Sakura grabbed a ragged notebook resting beside her bed, along with a pen, flipping to a clean page and jotting down the date in red ink, next to a scrawled, all-caps "CLEAR" to the left of it. She had sixteen more notebooks like the one she held, all stored in her bottom drawer and filled with line after line of one-word reports. Sakura was nothing if not thorough.

Once the search was complete, she took off her sodden shoes and tiptoed through her small, single-room apartment to place them carefully by the front door. Her apartment was tiny, plain and unfurnished, but she kept it neat and orderly all the same. In one corner was her kitchenette behind a small island counter, and in the other a bed that was barely big enough to hold her. Next to her bed there was a bookshelf, along with all her medical texts and scrolls and gear. Between her bed and her kitchen there was a short, three-foot hallway. On the right side was her bathroom, and on the left a single storage closet. Inside her apartment, there was not a speck of dust on anything. The one-room abode was her whole world.

Sakura didn't get visitors often, and she liked that way. Whenever the Hokage sent someone to fetch her, however, she needed to keep up appearances, which meant keeping everything tidy. It wouldn't do to have someone talking. Naruto was rather nosy, and would start prying at the slightest provocation. After placing her shoes by the door, Sakura collected her unopened mail and put it on the island counter, before rechecking all her locks and putting on a pot of tea to calm her stomach. Every time she moved, the world roiled. She felt like she was close to hurling.

While she waited for the tea, Sakura shucked off the rest of her clothes and stepped into her tiny shower, putting the heat on full blast. She had to curl up at the bottom to keep herself steady, hands wrapped around her middle as she fought back the nausea. She could still see in her mind's eye the sight of Ino slurping down worms, one after another; could still hear the wet _squelching_ noise as they slithered past her lips. The water was scalding against her back, overheated to the point where her skin turned red, and as she crouched there, her pink hair hung in thinning rivulets past her shoulders. Absently, Sakura lifted a hand, palming it through the water and blinking at the build up of steam that dulled her senses and made the glass turn white. She'd have to cut her hair soon, she thought. It was getting too long. Too un-ninja like. Her shower was also taking too long, and she was using up too much hot water.

Ignoring the nausea, Sakura stood on shaky legs, quickly pouring some shampoo into her palm and lathering it into her hair.

_You've been looking a little less… uhh, pink these days. _Ino's words came back to her. Morbidly, Sakura wondered if she really **could** lose the pink in her hair; if she could wash it down the drain, like the rest of her color. Gray hair on gray skin. She kind of liked the idea.

Beneath her the bathroom tiles were chipped, old with molding grout that had seen better days. As she washed the last bit of shampoo from her hair, Sakura noticed a broken shard by her foot, a new one that had probably fallen off the wall sometime during the day. She reached down to pick it up, careful of the sharp edge and intending to place it on the nearby counter. As she rose, however, the nausea spiked. Suddenly, the world was spinning.

Blinking hard, Sakura automatically reached out to steady herself, dropping the tile in the process. The shower was small – barely big enough for one person – and when it fell it sliced across her leg. There was nothing at first, then a quick stinging sensation as the tile cut into her thigh before clattering to the floor. Dully, Sakura looked down, hands still braced against the shower wall. The cut wasn't deep – not nearly as deep as the one she'd given herself that morning – but between her ribs, there was a sudden lightness. An airy feeling that rose up out of nowhere, the world warping and contracting as she watched the watery red rivulet trail down her thigh and around the knoll of her knee. The air was too hot, and her stomach was still upset, but oddly, Sakura didn't feel so bad in that moment. The worry was almost manageable.

Taking a deep breath, she watched the last of the blood trickle away. When it disappeared, the itching feeling returned. So did the anxiety.

Irritated and feeling angry for wasting more water, Sakura gave herself one last rinse before she turned the shower off, stepping sluggishly out of the stall. She didn't bother to towel her hair dry, as the kettle had started whistling. Yawning wide, she stepped over her sodden clothes that had been cast across the floor, grabbing her night shirt and pulling it over her head as she made her way towards the kitchenette. The t-shirt was three times too big for her, nearly falling to her knees.

As she was pouring herself a cup of tea, there was a sharp, efficient knock at the door.

Anbu. It couldn't be anyone else, really. No one visited, because Sakura had made sure no one knew where she lived. She had purposely chosen her one-room apartment as far away from the shinobi district as possible, where the rest of her colleagues were stationed. There were less prying eyes that way. Brushing her still-wet hair out of her face, Sakura walked to the door, barely checking herself over for spots of blood before she swung it wide. She frowned visibly when she did so. The Anbu at the door wasn't one she was used to seeing.

It was a shinobi in a cat mask, thin and lithe with sharp-nailed hands and a tuft of white-blond hair poking out from beneath the rim of his hood. Usually, the one who came to fetch her was a woman in a crow mask. Sakura blinked once, then twice, eying the Anbu from head to toe, gnawing on her bottom lip when she finally got to his face. Through the holes in his mask she could see the glint of yellow eyes, the pupils slitted. Which clan had yellow eyes, again? She couldn't remember off the top of her head.

Sakura kept her voice neutral, her gaze fixed on the Anbu's chest as rain dripped from his shoulders. Overhead there was a crack of thunder. She didn't invite him in.

"Cat-san." She said, without inflection. "Where's Crow?" Crow was the Hokage's favorite when it came to in-town errands, or at least the one that he always sent to fetch her.

"Dead." Said the Cat.

"Oh." Sakura didn't really know what to say to that, other than silence was probably appropriate. Idly, she wondered what had happened to the kunoichi. Sakura blinked, her eyes focused on nothing in particular, before she turned her gaze back to the Anbu. He was watching her strangely.

"What does the Hokage need?" She said.

From the folds of his cloak, the Anbu retrieved a letter, folded twice and perched delicately between his fingertips. His nails were red and sharp as claws. _Bloodline, then. _Sakura thought. _Another Kekkei Genkai. How fortuitous._

Wordlessly, she took the letter and opened it in front of him, scanning over the hastily scribbled words:

_Sakura-chan, come visit tomorrow! Sasuke's back, and he needs cheering up! (Don't tell him I said that)_

_Your favorite Hokage_

It took everything Sakura had not to rip up the letter right then and there.

What a waste of valuable resources; of the Anbu in general. When she **did** see him again, Sakura decided, she was going to impart on the Hokage the necessity of not abusing the messenger system for trivial matters such as these. She looked up, planning to close the door and expecting to find it empty, but the Anbu with the yellow eyes was still there, watching her intently, his clawed fingers twitching by his sides.

"Is there something else, Cat-san?" She asked blandly. Then a thought occurred to her, and she made sure to sound much kinder. "Do you need healing, perhaps?"

He shook his head, then nodded in the direction of her leg. Sakura looked down and saw a watery streak of blood on her thigh, slowly staining the white cotton fabric of her shirt. The edge of the cut was visible from beneath the hem.

"Are you alright?" He asked, sounding oddly unsure. Sakura looked up and nodded her head, but didn't smile.

"It's fine. Not that deep. It'll heal on its own."

The Anbu gave no indication to his current thoughts, but nodded once before using body flicker to quickly dart away across the rooftops. Once he did, Sakura closed the door and turned on her stove. She burnt the letter to a crisp above the burner, then crawled into bed, leaving her tea untouched on the counter as she willed herself to go to sleep.

She was tired. Everything else could wait till morning.

* * *

><p>Sakura didn't visit the Hokage the next morning, nor did she visit him the day after that. It wasn't an official summons – nor a semi-official request – and as the letter hadn't been work-related, Sakura knew she would be left alone for a bit. The Hokage was too busy to find time to search for her as a personal errand.<p>

Sasuke was back, if the rumors were true, but he was so much of a non-issue these days that Sakura knew the risk of running into him was minimal. Still, she made herself scarce. The Last Uchiha didn't care about her one way or another, but he and the Hokage were close these days. If he saw her around, there was a chance he might say something to Naruto, and Naruto was nosy. Very nosy. Sakura made sure to stay in her office from sunup to sundown as a result, and when she did leave she always took the long, scenic route used by civilians. Her odds of being undetected were better, then.

At her desk, Sakura dropped what she was doing and rubbed at her forehead, willing her headache to go away. She was too tired to deal with the Hokage right now – with anyone, really – and her former teammate was an unnecessary distraction.

Across the table, Jiro shot her a nervous glance.

"Haruno-san, would you like me to fetch you something to eat?"

Sakura frowned and shook her head, looking up at him in confusion. "Why would I want to eat?"

Her assistant seemed terribly nervous for a moment, biting his bottom lip. Then he blurted out in a rush "You just – you just haven't eaten today. Maybe you're sick."

Sakura's frown deepened, and she turned back to her desk. She waved a dismissive hand in his direction. "I'll eat later. I'm not hungry right now."

She didn't. After work, Sakura went home, completed her safety checks, had her shower, then went to bed.

* * *

><p>Sakura may not have followed the Hokage's summons, but she didn't forget what she'd said to Ino about taking a break. Slowly, the idea began to ferment. She'd only said it to placate her friend, but in hindsight it made perfect sense. There was an itch in her bones whenever she was in Konoha, and Sakura was so tired and simultaneously ansty that she was beginning to think she had a touch of cabin fever. Whenever she ate, food seemed to upset her stomach, the vertigo so extreme she often lost her balance. She hadn't figured out the food bit, yet, but Sakura was sure she would. She was a medic-nin, after all. She <strong>had<strong> to.

After another hour of mulling over the idea, Sakura nodded to herself. It was official. A break from the hospital would probably do her some good. A long mission, ideally, and as far away from Konoha as possible. It meant she'd have to ask special permission from the Hokage, of course, but Sakura was fine with that. It was a bit like ripping off a bandage; painful in the moment, but then the burn was soon over.

Making sure she had something in her hands to look like she was busy, Sakura left her lab and made her way over to the Hokage's tower, keeping her head down and her hood up, pretending to read as she walked.

It worked. No one talked to her, except for Naruto's assistant, who nodded kindly to her as she signed herself in. She shot Sakura a worried glance as she scribbled her signature down on a piece of paper.

"You don't have to sign yourself in, Haruno-san." The assistant said, and Sakura frowned, thinking it was pity she saw in the woman's gaze until she finished the rest of her sentence. "The Hokage says you're always welcome. You don't have to go through all this formality."

_Ah_. So that's what it was.

Her annoyance lessened, and Sakura shrugged, although her frown deepened when she noticed the hand she was using to sign the paper was shaking. As unobtrusively as she could, she set the pen down and hid her hands behind the counter. It wouldn't do for the assistant to notice.

"No," She agreed, and made sure to infuse a bit of friendless into her tone. "I don't have to sign. But the Hokage is young, and needs to learn a bit of propriety, I think."

The assistant laughed, but the pinched look around her eyes remained.

"Yes, yes." She said. "Of course. He's upstairs as always, Haruno-san. I'm sure he'll let you right in."

Sakura nodded her thanks and walked up the stairs one step at a time. Her feet felt heavy, her ribs hurting along her left side. Absently she reached up to rub at them, to try and relieve the ache, but just as quickly she dropped her hand and clutched her papers. It wasn't wise for her to show weakness, especially on the job. Especially **here**.

She was in front of his office, now. From behind the door, Sakura's could hear a boisterous laugh, then the sound of the Hokage's amiable voice, his words muffled through the wood. The ache got worse.

_Just a bandage. _She told herself. _It's just a bandage. Rip it off. _Her papers were her shield. She had an excuse to be there, a reason not to take up his time. Sakura knocked on the door, then before she could lose her nerve, she turned the knob and went inside.

Immediately, she wished she hadn't.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, bounding up from his chair and knocking his hat off his desk as he quickly made his way towards her. His arms were open for a hug. For a moment of panic, all Sakura could see was a mess of blond and black and white. Over to the right, Sasuke was standing beside Naruto's desk, quiet and pale as a ghost.

_Fuck. Fuck, bad timing. I shouldn't have come._

Sakura clutched her papers even tighter and made sure to look straight ahead. Before Naruto could reach her, she shoved them into his open hands, making sure to keep her expression neutral.

"Suggested improvements." She said, when a heavy look of confusion crossed his features. "For the hospital." She was thrilled with how steady her voice came across.

The Hokage's expression was comical as he looked towards the papers, hands raised in the air as if he'd forgotten what to do with them. A second later, he made a _tch_ noise and haphazardly tossed them onto his desk. The folder slid open, the papers scattering across the floor. Sakura opened her mouth to criticize the action –she had prepared those papers, she really had, and to see that they meant so **little** to him – but her complaint was cut off as he swept her off the floor and into a giant bear hug.

"Got you!" He declared in delight.

Naruto had a thousand watt smile as he held her up, his bright blue eyes so luminescent in the daylight they were almost glowing. Sakura kept very, very still as he held her, and it was only when her feet left the floor and he twirled her around that she reached for him, clutching at his shoulder for stability and biting down on her tongue to keep herself from vomiting. She was careful to keep her eyes trained to the ground and not look in Sasuke's direction.

"Sakura-chan, you're so light!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, and when he put her down he kept her close, placing his hands on her shoulders as he ran them up and down her arms. His eyes tracked rapidly over her features as he took in every little detail. Sakura kept her gaze fixed on his chest instead of his face, which wasn't hard. Gone were the days where Naruto was scrawny and short and dressed in orange. Now, he was all gold and topaz and suntanned skin, a good head taller than her and his facial features made all the more striking by the fox-like characteristics that poked through around the nose and eyes.

It made Sakura uncomfortable, being around him. Unworthy, almost. The physical difference between his golden good looks and her own drab appearance were stark. Sasuke was so far ahead of either of them that he wasn't worth mentioning. Of the three of them, she was the only one that had remained the same; short, uninteresting, good with paperwork, but otherwise unmentionable. A ninja with pink hair. It was downright embarrassing.

Naruto's smile was warm, but slightly worried as he watched her. _Shit. _She'd been quiet for too long. She needed to smile.

"Have you been eating, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said lightly, as if it were a joke, but Sakura knew him well enough to know that he was needling. The minute he latched on to something, the Hokage was like a dog with a bone. He wouldn't let go. They were **both** like that, but Sakura was barely more than a blip on the radar when it came to Sasuke, so she safer around him when it involved his tenacity.

Slowly, Sakura chanced looking up, her facial muscles twitching into an awkward, rusty smile. Naruto returned it, but there was an uncomfortable sort of intelligence behind his gaze that made Sakura think he knew more than he was letting on.

Fake it until you make it. _Rip the bandage off. _Silently, she repeated the mantra.

"I'm fine." She told him through the false smile. "We can't all be pigs like you, you know."

"Oi!" He said with mock indignation, reaching up to ruffle her hair, only to be rebuffed by her hood and hand. "I'm the Hokage, now. You should show more respect!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Naruto wrinkled his nose, his lips pulling back in a grimace to reveal unusually sharp teeth.

"You know I hate it when you call me that, Sakura-chan." He whined.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Make sure you look at my recommendations for the hospital."

The Hokage pouted, tugging on the edge of her hood and grasping a strand of her hair between his darkly tanned fingers. He frowned, as if examining the thinness of it. Sakura gently removed his hand.

"I also hate this hood thing you've got going on." He declared. Sakura sighed, rubbing at her face. The entire process was taking too long, and the itch was there, squirming beneath her skin.

"My eyes have been hurting lately. The hood helps."

"Your eyes hurt?"

Sakura stiffened as Sasuke's smooth baritone rolled over her – unusually alert and suspicious – but she quickly recovered, shrugging dismissively at his suggestion. If she didn't engage him beyond what was necessary, the Uchiha wouldn't respond past his initial question. Sasuke was predictable like that.

"It's just a photo-sensitivity thing. I've been working long hours under too much fluorescent lighting." Sakura kept her eyes trained on Naruto's chest.

"Hnh."

Naruto's voice was a bit more concerned as he spoke.

"Maybe you need a break." He ventured, and Sakura tried not to shudder when his hand came to rest on her shoulder, gently squeezing in concern. "Take some time off. Get some sleep."

Sakura saw her opening, and took it. She nodded, trying to keep her voice light. "I was thinking about it, actually – a long term mission, outside the hospital. Something to get me back in the field."

"Mission?" Naruto said, sounding confused. Sakura didn't have to look him in the eye to know he was upset. "That's not what I meant when I said –"

"How's Hinata?" She asked, cutting him off.

"Oh!" Naruto gushed, immediately following the change in topics. There was such happiness in his tone – such unadulterated joy – that Sakura would have cried at the unfairness of it all if she hadn't already been disgusted with herself for being jealous.

"Hinata-chan's good. Really good. You should come to dinner tonight! She's cooking again." He leaned forward, cupping his hand around his mouth and whispering conspiratorially. "Teme's joining us, too. Hinata promised him fried tomatoes."

There was a muttered "dobe," then a stack of papers went flying through the air to hit Naruto on the back of the head. Sakura jumped slightly in surprise. The Hokage let out a shout of indignation, then turned to face his former teammate while uttering threats of demotion.

"Chicken-ass, you better respect my authority, or I'm gonna give you D-rank missions again!"

"You won't." Sasuke's answer was smug, but there was no malice behind it.

"I will!" Howled Naruto, his hands still on Sakura's arms. "Just you wait! There's gonna be no tomatoes for you, for sure!"

Sakura's head throbbed, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She needed to get out. The world felt too bright, too beautiful, too mundane when she was around them. And she was an intruder.

As casually as she could, Sakura unwrapped the Hokage's fingers from her shoulders, waving off his half-uttered protests. She kept her eyes trained on his chest.

"I can't tonight. I'm sorry. There are some things at the hospital I have to finish up."

"You **always** have things to finish." Naruto said, suddenly serious again. Sakura forced herself to laugh a bit, shoving her hands in her pockets as she stepped backwards towards the door.

"That's why I'm thinking of a change of scenery, remember? Something long-term, and away from the lab. I'll have to pick up my papers another day, so when I do, we'll discuss it then, all right? It's not that pertinent."

"Over ramen?" He said cheerfully, full of hope.

Sakura nodded. "Sure." She didn't trust herself to say anything more.

Turning around, Sakura grabbed the door handle and walked into the hallway with as much calm as she could muster. Once the door was closed, she let out a deep breath, sucking air back into her lungs like a man dying of thirst. Finally, she could breathe.

The hallway wasn't much better when it came to her nausea, but Sakura walked quickly, eyes trained on the floor as she made her way towards the stairs. It had been a bad day to come. It was uncomfortable being in the village on the best of days, and when she was around her former teammates the nausea and the horrible itching sensation was downright unbearable. For a moment, Sakura was so desperate to escape that she nearly took off running. She didn't, because the nausea spiked, and when it did her vision tilted and the world grayed out. She had to reach out and grab wildly at the wall to stop herself from fainting.

As she did so, a large, warm hand shot out to grip her elbow, supporting her weight as she struggled to stand. It took her a moment to regain her bearings, and when she did so Sakura nearly screamed when she looked up and saw who was standing next to her.

"Sasuke." She said, trying to keep her voice as impassive as possible, her free hand hidden in her pocket to keep him from seeing the tremors. She hadn't heard him coming up behind her. "Was there something you need?"

He tilted his head downwards, watching her with too-bright eyes.

"Are you ill?" He asked bluntly. Sasuke's voice was deep – much deeper than it had been when they were teens – heavy and rich with a slight rasp to the end of his words that rumbled through his chest. Sakura didn't care much for black-eyed boys these days, however, or even red-eyed ones, so the sound of his voice didn't do much for her. She frowned heavily, and tried to muddle her way through the confusion. Why on earth was he asking her **that**?

"No." She said slowly. "Why do you ask?" She didn't understand why he was even talking to her. The only reason she could come up with was that he thought she was a liability to Naruto, which stung.

Sasuke's elegant black eyebrows pulled down over mismatched eyes as he scrunched up his nose, furrowing his brow into a frown. The ends of his flyaway hair dusted the edge of his jaw as he slightly tilted his head to observe her.

Sasuke at twenty-five was much the same as Sasuke at seventeen, when it came to the basics: beautiful, deadly, and very cold. Sakura never talked to him outside of official business. She had no need to converse with the Head of Naruto's "Lightning Strike Force," the one that he'd created after the war to send into hot zones. She was just a medic, and even when Sasuke was injured – which was never – he always went to someone else for treatment. It had hurt badly, in the beginning. Not so much his rejection of her, but his rejection of her skills.

"You're dizzy." Sasuke said, in response to her question, and Sakura felt his lily pale hand grip her elbow just a little bit harder, his head tilting further as he eyed her. There was a hint of red swirling in his right pupil. The left one – that awful left one, with the lazily swirling circles of gray – was bright as the moon. "Thin." He murmured. His other hand was braced loosely on the hilt of Kusanagi.

Sakura felt a twinge beneath her breastbone – a painful one – and knew it was shame. She'd wasted so much time on him when she was younger, and seeing him standing there now, staring down at her with cool dissatisfaction, made her hate herself for even trying to keep up with him. Even so, her medic-nin side – the perfectionist streak that desperately clung to the only thing she knew how to do – reared its ugly head. Movements slightly jerky with anger, she reached up, removing his fingers from her elbow. Sasuke let his hand drop, but he didn't step back, looming over her and invading her space, all white and red and terrible. Sakura jabbed her finger into the center of his chest.

"You." She managed to get out, voice choppy even as she went into medic mode. It was much easier to deal with him when she thought of him as just a patient. She raised her finger from his chest and pointed to his face. "You know better than to turn _it_ on for something stupid, especially in a place like this. Keep it off unless you need it, or you're going to go blind again."

Sasuke's frown got deeper. So did the red, swirling like a bloody pinwheel as it unfurled in a pit of ink. The idiot was going to ruin his eyes over nothing, talking to her in a goddamn hallway, and for a second Sakura was so angry at his lack of care that she wanted to scream. She would have killed to have a bloodline limit like his, to actually be **useful**, and he treated the mere mention of it like trash.

"You're not my doctor." He said, almost petulantly. The comment didn't sting. Not like it had before. "I'm not –"

"Exactly." She said, cutting him off. "So why are you talking to me?"

Sasuke didn't have an answer, although there was a blankness to his features that made Sakura think that maybe she'd caught him off guard. That he hadn't expected her to be so curt. When she was younger, Sakura would have died for a chance to be noticed by him, and later, she would have died for a chance to one-up him, to prove her worth. Now, she was older. More aware and mature. There was no way she'd startled the great Uchiha over anything, and she knew it.

Without another word, Sakura turned around and walked away. When no one followed her, she felt better for it.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Way, way back in the day, I used to write Naruto fanfiction to get over my fear of showing my work to others. I wasn't planning on returning to the fandom, but Naruto's a bit like junk food for me: comforting, and a bit of stress-reliever when I need a break from my other stories. _Monomoth's_ gonna be AUish, but not a hard AU. Updates will be sporadic while I'm finishing my other stories, but I **will** complete this one too.

**Please be advised**: Story's rated M, so please heed the warning and all that it implies. This is the only time I'll mention it. See my profile for the disclaimer.


	2. Scorch and Burn

Chapter II: Scorch and Burn

* * *

><p>There was a point, directly after the war and Sasuke's failed rebellion, where Sakura had thought the two of them would have been able to tolerate one another.<p>

She hadn't trusted him at the time, nor did she love him – she'd been hurt once too often – but Naruto did, and back then Sakura had been young and still slightly hopeful. Not naive, per say, but wanting to believe the best in people, that things could and would get better. When Naruto had finally handed Sasuke's ass to him, Sakura had thought that maybe she and their erstwhile teammate could settle into something resembling an ambivalent _distance_. She would smile and say "hello" on occasion, while Sasuke would frown and grunt a "hnh" back. Then, at night when she went to sleep, she could finally stop worrying that he was going to break in and try to kill her with a Chidori to the chest. It had been a pervasive fear before that.

The Uchiha had been a mess when Naruto had dragged him into the hospital tent. Constant fighting, several large-scale tragedies and numerous breakdowns did that to a person, especially someone as high-strung and mentally fragile as Sasuke. He'd had a hole in his stomach the size of a fist, and had been suffering from severe chakra depletion and bleeding heavily. Naruto had been forced to pick him up and shove him onto the makeshift cot. As he'd done so, Sasuke had begun rambling about peace. He just wanted peace, he was going to **make** everyone want peace, why couldn't they see that, and_ kaasan, where's kaasan? You fucking liar, she's not dead, I want kaasan. Get Itachi, Itachi will tell me where she is._

It had been the most awkward, uncomfortable thing Sakura had ever been privy to seeing. Standing there, still swaying from the aftereffects of genjutsu, she'd had to watch as Naruto told a clearly delirious Uchiha that his kaasan had been dead for a long, long time, and so was Itachi, because Sasuke had killed him. Yes, his otousan was dead too. He would have been proud of him, Naruto amended, for being the strongest and discovering the truth. _Your parents loved you, Sasuke, _he'd said gently, and Sakura's heart had ached._ Don't ever forget that._

When Sasuke had clued in to what time it was, and remembered exactly what had happened, he'd sobbed. He'd cried harder than Sakura had ever seen him do, crippled by grief and utterly depleted of energy. His hands had been red and sticky, his eyes leaking blood. Naruto was forced to lock him to the aforementioned cot, and as he'd done so Sasuke had ranted about failed revolutions and how nothing ever went right for him, he was tired, so goddamn tired, _just make it stop, please, fucking __**kill**__ me already._

Naruto had bit back his own tears, but he hadn't wavered. It had been too much for Sakura to take in. She'd hated the war, and she'd hated the Uchiha. Unable to stand it, she'd promptly left the tent and thrown up in a bucket. When Sakura returned, Sasuke had been knocked out and put into a medically induced coma, his middle bandaged and chakra restraints around his wrists and ankles. Everyone had known he was too far gone to let loose.

"Think you can take care of him for awhile?" Naruto had asked, his gentle expression cracking under the strain of their collective grief. "I have to… I mean, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Sakura knew Sasuke **would** mind, but she'd still made the effort for Naruto. He deserved her help and so much more, and by that point she was willing to give him the world, so long as things got better. She needed someone to stop the screaming inside her head.

"Sure." She'd said slowly, already dead on her feet and mouth tasting of bile. "But stay close, alright? He's –"

"I know." Naruto had said, a large, painful grin splitting his features. When he'd spoke again, his voice had cracked. "Don't worry. Sasuke's back for good. We're family, now. The only one he has."

Sakura had known it was a lie, but she'd wanted to believe him. She'd wanted so badly to put the past behind her; all of it, including Sasuke.

Only that night, the Uchiha had woken up blind.

Sakura had been dozing off in her chair when she'd heard the crash. When she looked up, it was to see Sasuke hyperventilating and falling haphazardly out of the cot, restraints broken, hair wild and eyes spinning, blood running down his cheeks as the sheets tangled around his legs.

"My eyes." He'd babbled, clawing his way across the floor to gods know where. "My eyes, I can't see, who took them –"

And Sakura – bleeding heart, still hopeful Sakura, who'd just wanted to leave her childhood behind her – had gone to him anyways. She'd tried to pull him back into bed, but Sasuke had been too worked up to go much of anywhere, so she left him on the floor, bandaged and shivering. The only thing that had stopped him from driving his fist through her chest in a fit of panic was that he'd had too little chakra to do so. He'd been so tired that he'd collapsed against her, his head on her shoulder and soft black hair brushing along her chin. Sakura had used one of her hands to run soothing circles along his back, the other to wipe the blood from his face. He'd looked a mess.

"I can't see." He'd wailed, even though his mangekyō had been spinning, all red and frenetically angry. Sakura made sure not to stare at it directly, but had carefully wiped away the fresh blood with the base of her palm. Green chakra had flowed from her fingertips as she'd tried to repair the damage as quickly as he created it. Desperately, she'd wished for Naruto. He was the one that should have been dealing with this, not her.

"Sasuke, you **can** see. You will, alright? I just need to fix it, and you need to calm down. You're hurting yourself."

He hadn't calmed down, but when the green had enveloped her hand and tracked across his eye, Sasuke had pressed against her, blindly huddling inwards as he'd turned his face towards her shoulder.

"Sakura?" He'd mumbled.

"Yeah," She'd said softly. "It's me."

Sasuke had let out a ragged moan, pressing even further into the crook of her neck. Before, Sakura had wanted this sort of physical closeness from him, but not now. Never again. There was too much bad blood between them, and all she'd wanted was ambivalent _distance. _But she loved Naruto, and Naruto loved him, so she put up with it. Resigned and aching, Sakura had wrapped an arm around his broad back, the other returning to stroking his hair. There had been nothing romantic about the scene. Holding Sasuke had been akin to holding a hysterical child; a giant, homicidal child with his finger on the trigger and the world set to explode. He was a walking time bomb with a brain, and it had taken her a good ten years to see that. She'd been so foolish.

"Want me to get Naruto?" She'd asked softly. He'd shaken his head, teeth chattering against her neck, his blood smearing across her collarbone as he went into a state of shock. Sasuke's arms had locked up, slender fingers spasming into claws. _Life is cruel_, Sakura remembered thinking, and she'd leaned over and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders. The two of them had been so goddamn pitiable.

"Missed you." He mumbled against her neck. "Missed you a lot. Don't leave. Itachi's outside. He's going to kill us like kaasan."

Sakura had sighed loudly and prayed for patience. She'd been so, so tired, even then.

"Sasuke, Itachi isn't here. We've been over this, remember?"

"Yes he is. He's hiding behind the door. Always hiding, but you step out and he runs you through anyways. I can't see. Someone took my eyes. Fucking Asura, he took my eyes, thinks he's otousan's favorite. I'm the best, they're mine, **mine**, I deserve them –"

She shouldn't have said anything in that moment. She really shouldn't have, but she'd just spent an eternity stuck in his genjutsu where he'd shoved his hand repeatedly through her chest. Sakura's good will was all used up. Dry and barren, like the desert.

"Itachi didn't run me through." She'd said, ignoring the heavy weight of him leaning against her; the way his teeth chattered loudly and his hands shook as he curled into her for warmth. She was stronger than that. "You did."

"No I didn't." He mumbled, and he'd sounded almost child-like in that moment, terrified and full of blatant confusion. Sasuke's skin had burned with the fever. "I didn't. Itachi lies. He always lies. Don't listen to him. Left you on a bench so you wouldn't get cut up like kaasan. I 'member."

She couldn't deal with him like this. It was too much, too soon, too late. Sakura didn't want to be the only one that remembered what he'd done. It was too heavy a burden, and she was tired. She ached everywhere.

At that moment, Naruto and several other nins had arrived at the tent, and after much screaming on Sasuke's part and additional ranting about his "glorious revolution," they'd knocked him out and gotten him back to bed. Sakura had remained on the floor, running her hands absently across her bloodied collarbones, only to draw back and see her fingers come away dyed with red.

"Sorry." Naruto had exclaimed, quickly crouching in front of her and drawing her into a fierce, desperate hug. He'd smelt like wood smoke and antiseptic, Sakura remembered that clearly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left. But we'll get through this. We will. We're **family**."

Sakura didn't have the heart to tell him that she thought his beautiful dream was a lie.

The next morning she'd returned to the tent, intending to help the other medics care for their more difficult patients. Sasuke's fever had broken during the night, and he was no longer delirious, but when he'd seen her enter the room he'd looked at her like she was Itachi incarnate. Wild-eyed and hyper-panicked, he'd chucked his bedside table in her direction. Sakura had barely managed to dodge it, she'd been so surprised. Naruto had stepped between them, gripping Sasuke's face between his hands to keep him steady.

"Not her!" Sasuke had snarled, voice cracking with anxiety as he'd gripped Naruto's hands with his own. "Never her! Why's she here?! Send her away!"

And that had been it for Sakura. The end. Like a piece of porcelain shattering against the floor, her resistance to how much he loathed her – how incompatible they'd been from the beginning – simply vanished. She was done with him. She didn't even have the energy to fake affection for Naruto's sake.

That day, she'd handed her supplies over to Shizune, giving the kunoichi instructions on how to care for Sasuke before walking away. They never talked to each other outside of official business again.

At least, not intentionally.

* * *

><p>"So you want a mission." Naruto said slowly, poking contemplatively at the pork floating along the top of his bowl. "A long one."<p>

Sakura nodded and sipped at her tea, her own bowl of sho-yu ramen untouched.

"Yeah. Still medicinal based, but farther away. Maybe in one of the border towns? I could set up a clinic there, make it a volunteer-thing. They're always low on supplies, and it would foster a lot of good will towards Konoha."

Naruto was still frowning, and uncharacteristically out-of-appetite, picking at his food instead of wolfing it down. Sakura tried to put a damper on her panic: the little voice at the back of her brain that was warning her that the Hokage knew something was wrong. She needed this. She needed to get away from the village, even if it was only for a bit.

"Something the matter?" She asked casually. Naruto finally took a bite of his meal, only it wasn't pork and noodles now, but bits of bone and liver and the ever-present worms. Sakura could hear his teeth crunching through the marrow as the insects slithered past his lips. She quickly looked away.

"Sasuke won't like it." He stated blandly. Sakura didn't look back, but she did frown, her hands clenching so hard around her teacup she almost cracked it.

"Why wouldn't he like it?" He had no reason **not** to like it. He didn't give a rat's ass when it came to her well-being, and he wasn't even involved with patrolling the border. Sasuke was the leader of a goddamn death squad. Sakura looked over, and immediately wished she hadn't. Naruto was currently gulping down a slice of human liver. If she squinted, Sakura could make out the tell-tale splatter of blood across his pristine white robes.

"You know why he doesn't like it. Bastard's paranoid about safety. You should see how bitchy he gets when anyone other than the LSF leaves the village."

Sakura wanted to scream. It didn't matter what Sasuke thought, because he wasn't the Hokage. Naruto was. Instead, she settled for tapping her brittle nails in annoyance against the counter-top. On the other side, the latest waitress to join _Ichiraku's_ staff was looking at Sakura's untouched bowl with consternation.

"Is the food not to your liking, Haruno-san?" She asked. Naruto looked up; first to the waitress, then to Sakura, his bright blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. Behind them, a red paper lantern hanging outside the door bobbed in an errant gust of wind. Before Naruto could get any ideas, Sakura quickly interjected.

"It could use something else. More broth, perhaps?"

The waitress's eyes widened, and she quickly reached for the bowl. "Of course, Haruno-san. I'm so sorry! Normally we use the appropriate –"

"It's fine, it's fine! My sense of taste is off these days, I guess. It's my fault, not yours."

When the waitress moved away, Sakura turned back to Naruto, her fingernails resuming their drumming across the tabletop. She tried to interject warmth into her voice, but her nervousness was beginning to show. "Honestly, though. Does it matter if Sasuke doesn't like it? He's not even in charge of border patrol."

Naruto looked towards her with a mouthful of noodles, and Sakura tried not to gag at the sight of fresh blood coating the lower half of his face. His left eyebrow was raised in derision, but after he finished slurping down his spoonful of ramen, he spoke with a voice that was full of concern. He met her gaze head on.

"Sakura-chan, it's **Sasuke**." He intoned softly, his eyes searching hers for some sort of emotion that Sakura was unfamiliar with. She didn't know why he kept stressing that point, nor did she have time for it. Gods, she was feeling sick. She didn't know how she was going to get through her meal. Sakura closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, willing herself not to cry.

"Please, Naruto. I just need a break. You said it yourself."

"I said you needed to take some time _off_. A year long border mission is not a vacation." His voice was flat and unimpressed. At that moment, the waitress returned with Sakura's meal. Naruto's mood immediately improved.

"Didn't know you were so picky over ramen, Sakura-chan." He teased with an eyebrow wiggle, his teeth bloody and bits of liver stuck in the spaces in-between. He leaned towards her, stirring noodles around his bowl. "C'mon, eat up!"

Sakura looked down at her own bowl, then quickly looked away, trying to moderate her breathing. She could do this. She could. _Just rip the bandage off. _

"Can I go to the border?" She needed an answer, and she needed one now. Beside her, Naruto sighed through a mouthful of worms.

"I guess so," He mumbled, words muffled by the wet sounds of mastication; the crunch of little bones breaking beneath his teeth. "But I gotta work out the details, alright? Sasuke's gonna be pissed, and I don't wanna have him screaming at me again. He scares Hinata when he's like that."

"He **won't**."

"Yeah, yeah. Eat up! You're too skinny, Sakura-chan. If you're not careful, you're gonna blow away in the wind."

Not looking at her bowl, Sakura took her first bite, trying to pass off her audible gag on the food being "too hot," as she felt worms and bits of liver slither down her throat. It tasted like blood. Like salt and bile and the sinew of muscles. _It's the corpses_, she though with dawning realization. _The people I couldn't bring back. I'm eating my failures._

Again, she took a bite, and then another, her foot jigging beneath the table and eyes watering as she tried to swallow it all.

Naruto continued to babble on about nothing, before switching to babbling about Hinata. He loved her hair, he said, and her cooking was the best. The smell of medicinal herbs drying on wooden racks reminded him of home. They went and visited Neji's grave every day. Kakashi's, too.

"You visit the cemetery to see your folks?" He asked. Sakura finished the last bit of her noodles, quickly pushing the broth away and hiding her hands in her pockets to obscure the tremors.

"Yes. Once a week."

Naruto nodded, then grinned. "The bastard brought them flowers last night. They're yellow this time, and really nice! You should stop by and take a look."

Something ugly sprung to life inside Sakura's chest, twisting and nauseous and acidic. It was so strong that it drowned out the taste of the blood.

"Tell him to stop. It doesn't concern him."

Naruto laughed and slapped her back good naturedly in what was probably meant to be a comforting motion, but the force was so strong it rattled her bones. Sakura had to quickly reach up to slap a hand over her mouth to keep projectile vomit from flying everywhere. Naruto yelped as his hand hit the wing of her shoulder blade.

"Geeze, Sakura-chan, your shoulders are so bony!" He exclaimed. Then, "Of course it concerns him. You know how big Sasuke is on family, all traditional n' stuff."

Sakura knew exactly where the conversation was heading, and she loathed him for it.

"Naruto, I don't want to talk about how he killed my parents, alright? I **don't**. I wish you would just drop it."

Immediately the blond-haired Hokage sobered up, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them. When Naruto spoke again, he sounded terribly sad.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have done that." There was a self-depreciating laugh, and Sakura didn't have to look up to know that he was awkwardly running a hand across the back of his head. "I just figured it's been ages, y'know? And Sasuke's all upset these days. The Clans –"

Sick. She was definitely going to be sick. Sakura could taste the blood coating her tongue and throat. She roughly pushed back her stool and stood.

"Do you think I could cut our meal short?" She said, keeping her eyes trained on the tabletop. "I just remembered that I have to prep some notes for an experimental surgery at the hospital."

With a detached sort of horror, Sakura watched as Naruto's hand snaked into her field of vision, gripping her own and holding it gently in his. His fingers were warm, his palm broad and tanned. Her own skin had a sort of grayish cast, and she could see the outline of bones poking through along her knuckles and wrist.

"Of course, Sakura-chan. I'd do anything for you. You know that, right?"

"I'm going to hold you to that. Process my request."

"Sure, sure." He agreed amiably, then leaned forward, his voice taking on a mischievous hint. "Hey, want an escort?"

Sakura would have groaned in annoyance, if she hadn't been terrified of puking first. "I don't need an escort, Naruto."

"Sure you do!" He declared, then leaned forward even further, cupping his around his mouth in a conspiratorial whisper. He was smiling so widely the skin around his eyes was crinkling. "Can I send Cat-san? I think he likes you. He's been watching the entire meal."

Sakura looked up as he said that, a flare of panic sparking beneath her breastbone as the nausea twisted and swirled. Not fair. Not fair at **all**. He knew no one liked her, and they both knew all he wanted was to have her monitored. Watched, as if she were someone suspicious. The reality of the whole situation burned.

"I said I'm fine. He's your escort, not mine."

"Nah." Naruto said, leaning back and waving his free hand in dismissal. "I've got him on loan from Sasuke while the LSF is in town! You know he's the one that works with the Clans." With that, the Hokage leaned back in his seat, cupping his hand around his mouth as he hollered ungraciously up at the rooftop. Sakura winced at the volume.

"OI! WHISKERS! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!"

"Naruto, please." She hissed, trying to free her hand. "I'm fine." Even as she did so, a black and white figure blurred into existence behind them, and Sakura felt her dread build as the Anbu unfurled and straightened. She caught the flash of bright red nails and the tell-tale tuft of white blond hair, poking out from beneath his hood.

"Haruno-san." He said, without inflection. Sakura's jaw was tight as she spoke.

"Cat." She nodded in acknowledgement, and he nodded back. "I don't need an escort." The Hokage wasn't hearing it.

"Nonsense, Sakura-chan!" He sounded oddly serious, and for a single, horrifying second Sakura thought that he knew. "I insist."

Sakura let the other nin escort her home. She couldn't risk the questions.

The Anbu was quiet the entire way there, jumping from tree to tree as she quickly walked along the road. Sakura's nerves were too shot for her to attempt anything other than the civilian way, on foot and grounded. The world was spinning, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she gnawed on her bottom lip. She was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other – on not puking up her guts – that the world starting wobbling. When she did trip, she was too distracted to keep herself from falling.

Sakura hit the ground hard, and then the embarrassment set it. She'd tripped. She'd actually **tripped**. In public, in front of another nin. The shame was so great that she wanted to curl up and die. The itching sensation beneath her skin made her want to rip off her skin, just to get to the aching.

The Anbu didn't catch her, but soon after she fell Sakura saw a pair of sandal-clad feet with sharp, bright red toenails come to stand in front of her. A moment later, the nin bent down, palm up as he offered her his hand. Up close, she could see his nails were actually claws, over an inch long and razor sharp.

"You'll be alright." He said softly. His hand was open and inviting, free of judgement. There was no anger behind his voice, just a mellow, emphatic kind of support.

Full of shame, Sakura reached over and grabbed his hand, biting her bottom lip as he quickly helped her up. He did so without comment, taking care not to cut her with his claws. It was odd being around nins with visible bloodlines, Sakura thought numbly. She didn't see them all that often. Briefly, she dwelt on her memories of the long-dead Kisame, before wondering where the perpetually belligerent Suigetsu had escaped to. Sasuke's teammate was prone to lurking around Konoha, and he was a brat.

"You're one of Uchiha's?" She asked. The Anbu nodded again.

"Yes."

Sakura looked up at his face, trying not to glare. The white blond hair that was whispering around the edges of his mask had escaped even further. "Don't tell him about this, understand?"

"Yes, Haruno-san." He didn't blink or hesitate.

Unable to stand the sight of his hair any longer – the slight **imperfection** – Sakura reached up, grabbing the wisps and quickly tucking them beneath his hood. He stiffened as she did so, fingers clenching, and it was only them that Sakura realized he was still holding her hand. His claws were curled carefully around the top of her palm.

"Keep it hidden when you're in town, alright?" She told him. "Your hair makes you easy to spot." He nodded in compliance.

She should have known. She should have known right away that the nin was one of Sasuke's, and Sakura hated herself for not doing so. The entire Strike Force was notoriously unsubtle, with the exception of Sai and maybe one or two others. Fuck, was she ever a fool.

"Thank you." The Anbu said. He still hadn't let go of her hand. Sakura didn't respond and removed her hand anyways, unable to suppress the visible shudder that raced down her spine as his nails scraped across the top of her palm.

Once they arrived at her apartment and the Anbu left, Sakura hastily completed her ritual and marked down another 'CLEAR.' After, she rushed to the bathroom, where she promptly threw up the entire contents of her stomach. No ramen, never again. She was sick of it.

* * *

><p>Her mission had been approved.<p>

Shizune was taking over her duties at the hospital while she was gone, and Naruto had found her a town that was far away from any hotspots. Sakura was cleared to set up her clinic in the border region between Fire and Wind, where she would stay for the rest of the year. The only caveat to the entire deal was that she had to hitch a ride out of town with Sasuke's squad. Once they reached the border, she'd turn south and they'd continue west. There was trouble on the horizon, but no one had told her what it was. Sakura didn't care.

According to the rumors, the Last Uchiha was upset with the whole arrangement.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto had warbled, slumping further and further behind his desk until he was a puddle of Hokage robes on the floor. "Help me. Teme's on the warpath."

"He's your problem, not mine." Sakura said, not looking at him as she'd scanned the mission report. The village's name was Tōbetsu; small and out of the way, in an area of zero military importance. _Good_. Naruto had moaned and covered his face with his hands, rolling across the floor. "So cruel, Sakura-chan. Abandoning me to the bastard! And after everything I've done for you!"

"Get off the floor, Hokage-sama, or Gaara will be my new favorite."

"Never!"

Ino's response was more measured.

They met early in the morning the day Sakura was set to leave, at a small eatery near the front gates to Konoha. Ino had ordered her meal, and Sakura had stuck with her tea, as per usual. All her personal belongings were already packed, shoved into a single knapsack that Ino had called "beyond puny." Her medical supplies for the extended trip took up two duffel bags, and halfway through the year more supplies would be delivered. She had yet to seal them in a scroll, and currently they were sitting by her left leg on the floor. Ino was subdued as she finished her breakfast.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" She asked, not meeting Sakura's eye as she did so. "You're looking really rough around the edges, and the border regions can be tough."

"I'll be fine." Sakura assured her. "I passed my physical." She had, albeit barely. There was no way she was letting Naruto see the actual results. Ino's full lips twisted into an uncomfortable grimace as she'd swallowed a mouthful of okayu. She put her spoon down and folded her hands in front of her, looking straight at Sakura. The truth was blurted out in a rush.

"I don't think you are." She said. "Sakura, I mean it. You look sick. You need to let Shizune check you out."

She wasn't sick. She **wasn't**. She was a medic-nin, and if she were ill she would have known it by now. It was just the lingering in Konoha that was killing her.

"I'll be fine." She reiterated somewhat testily. "I'm hitching a ride with the LSF. There's no safer place to be in the country."

It was something Ino couldn't argue with, and Sakura knew it. They said their goodbyes; Sakura's tense and stilted, Ino's withdrawn and angry. After, she'd headed to the rendezvous point to loiter around with the rest of the Strike Force. There were nearly fifty of them, and they traveled en mass. The meeting zone was choked with chakra and bodies.

Sasuke's LSF was considered overkill by any nin with half a brain. It was full of former Anbu, and almost all of them had bloodline limits and clan-based jutsus. They wore no masks to hide their identities, making up for what they lacked in subtlety with raw power and speed. Foreign nins avoided them like the plague, as their reputation for scorched earth tactics preceded them. After the war, Sasuke had come up with the admittedly brilliant idea of integrating all the clans into a single platoon – both the ones from Konoha, and those from the other villages that had joined them. It kept them focused, and stopped the infighting. Sakura knew several of the LSF by name, but not enough. A handful of the Hyugas were among them, Hanabi included, along with Suigetsu and Juugo, from Sasuke's old team Taka.

It was warm that morning. Even still, Sakura had dressed in jounin pants and a long-sleeved shirt, over which she'd worn her medic's gear and a hooded jacket, similar to Aburame's. She was holding a duffel bag in either hand as she walked towards the gates. Most of Sasuke's platoon were talking quietly amongst themselves, while others sharpened weapons or counted their scrolls at last minute. There were a couple non-clan members with them – they were conspicuous in their blandness compared to the bloodline nins – but Sakura didn't see Sai.

Hanabi waved her over as she waded through the crowd, walking up to meet her with a sway to her hips and a friendly smile on her face. Her long hair was tied behind her, her clothing distinctly Hyuga. For a moment she looked so much like Neji in the way that she held herself that Sakura's insides ached.

"Sakura." She said, a sly smile working its way across her lips. She reached out, palm open, and Sakura put her bag down to grip Hanabi's hand. The younger woman pulled her into a sisterly hug, and Sakura returned it with minimal awkwardness. The two of them were friendly with one another, as Sakura understood the other girl's drive for perfection, while Hanabi admired her dedication. Naruto had also married Hinata, which helped.

When she pulled back, Hanabi stayed close, keeping her hand clasped around Sakura's forearm as she balanced her weight on her left hip.

"I heard you were joining us. Just to the border, is it?"

Sakura nodded, but didn't smile. "Just to the border, then I'm heading south." Hanabi wasn't gripping her hard, but the place where she held her ached badly, as if she'd been punched. Hanabi sniffed imperiously, tilting her head up at an angle and looking down her nose at Sakura in a gesture that was clearly disapproving. The younger woman was aristocratic to the core.

"I'm surprised the Hokage let you go."

Sakura knew where the conversation was headed, and quickly veered her off. "You know Naruto. Easily swayed by the promise of ramen. How's your sister doing?"

Hanabi groaned and rubbed at her forehead. Sakura was almost positive she had rolled her eyes, but it was hard to tell.

"Ugh. Everything's Naruto-kun this and Naruto-kun that. It's going to be even worse when she has the baby. The two of them are **so** embarrassing."

"Welcome to the club." Sakura said.

There was a prickling sensation between her shoulder blades, and Sakura knew they were being watched. Curious, she turned towards the voyeur. There was an LSF nin eying them, dressed all in white with a poppy red sash tied around his hips, his stark white haori open to his naval. The nin's eyes were yellow and slit like a cat's, his white-blond hair dusting his nape where the spine and neck met. There were tattoos inked in matching red lines that ran the length of his chest, along with a red stripe that went from his bottom lip to his chin. Even without the mask, Sakura recognized him. It was the hair. The feathery blond hair that was so fine that wisps of it where sticking to his cheeks with the slightest breeze.

"Cat-san." She said in acknowledgement. He blinked once, tilting his head to observe her.

"Susumu." He corrected blandly, eyelids drooping. There was red on them, and his eyebrows – what was left of them – were red too. It took Sakura a moment to catch on.

"Pardon?"

"My name's Susumu."

"Oh." She wasn't exactly comfortable calling him by his first name, but he didn't seem inclined to provide a clan one. And he was **definitely** from a clan. "Do you want me to call you that?"

"Yes."

Morbidly, Sakura wondered what his bloodline limit was. Nins with bloodlines were always dangerous, and the ones that ran with Sasuke even more so. Beside her, Hanabi sighed and tilted her head, reaching around to absently draw the length of her ponytail through her hand.

"Susu, you better watch out, or you're gonna get bit." She warned.

_Susu_ ignored her, continuing to stare at Sakura intently. Hanabi sighed again and stalked off. Sakura didn't return the nin's gaze, folding her arms defensively over her chest and looking sideways. The incident where she'd tripped still hung unspoken between them.

"What clan are you from?" She asked.

"Ueda." He said, taking a step towards her. Sakura wrinkled her nose when he said his name. The clan was unfamiliar to her. Either he'd spent most of his time outside the village, or he was from one of the newer clans that had been absorbed after the war. Susumu blinked slowly, and Sakura realized his eyes were **all** yellow – sclera and iris. He was terribly pretty, and she'd harbored a well-known weakness for pretty nins back in the day. Delicate features and boys with long eyelashes had practically been her calling card.

"You're not from Konoha, are you?"

The nin shook his head and took another step. The contrast between the red stripes on his chest and the paleness of his skin was terribly distracting.

"Shimogakure." He said. "We integrated into Konoha after the war."

"How big's your clan?"

"Not big." He admitted, and Sakura suddenly realized there was only half a foot of space between them, and he was carrying no weapons. Nins who needed no weapons other than themselves were bad news. Sasuke preferred them.

Susumu was looking down at her with a thoughtful expression. He was shorter than the Uchiha, but still half a head taller than her. "It's just me and my sister." He continued. "The rest are dead."

Sakura felt her heart twinge unexpectedly. She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest to try and will away the ache.

"I'm sorry." She said truthfully. Being alone was a terrible burden, privileged clan member or no. "How old is your sister?"

"Ayano." He corrected. Although he didn't smile, Sakura could hear the warmth behind his voice, and knew there was love there. _A good shinobi_. She thought. _A good person._

"Sorry. How old is Ayano?"

"Eight." He said. "She's going to graduate from the academy this year."

Against all odds, Sakura felt a real smile stealing its way across her features – the first one in months, and the gesture was so painful that she nearly burst into tears.

"That's wonderful." She said, her voice thick as she put a hand to her face and tried not to sniffle. "Really, I'm glad. You take good care of your sister, okay? I'm sure she loves you." _Please, please, don't be another Itachi_, was what she really wanted to say.

Susumu blinked briefly, and when he opened his eyes, there were **three** pupils in either eye, instead of just one, which made him look like a spider. He was smiling softly though, the red ink stretching across his chin and bottom lip.

"I promise, Haruno-san."

"Good." Sakura said, giving into the sniffling and nodding once in confirmation. She rubbed furiously at her nose. "Good. You **better**. You can call me Sakura, if you want. I don't mind."

"Alright."

On a nearby log, Suigetsu was watching them. Sakura didn't see him around all that often, as he stuck to Sasuke like glue. He grinned at her, taking a swig of his water bottle. His expression was practically devious.

"Oi, oi, Susu-chan." He sing-songed, leering at the blond nin beside her. His lips pulled back to reveal his teeth. "You shouldn't get too close to Pinky. Uchiha's gonna bite your head off, make you pull last shift."

Sakura glared at the nin and his unfortunate moniker. She couldn't help it if she had pink hair, and he wasn't making her mood any better. Beside her, Susumu didn't respond to the insult, but Sakura caught him clenching his hands. His sharp red nails dug into his palms deep enough to draw blood.

"Stop that." She chided, automatically falling into medic mode and grabbing his hands to unfurl his fingers. He had unusually smooth skin for a nin. "You're going to hurt yourself." She healed the gashes without a second thought.

Suigetsu's grin grew wider. He started laughing.

"Shit, Susu-chan." He cackled, slapping his knee and pointing. "Shit, you're so doomed! Uchiha's gonna beat your ass for sure!"

Over by the gates, Hanabi's voice was shrill as she yelled at him. "Suigetsu, shut it!" He made kissing noises at her. Sakura glared at the nin. Suigetsu turned and grinned back.

"What does Uchiha have to do with any of this?" She demanded. It was then that Sasuke chose to make his timely arrival.

"**Ueda**." He snapped, fist clenched around the hilt of Kusanagi as he strode towards them. "Squad D, Formation A. Move it. Suigetsu, you're with him. Sakura, with me." Both his eyes were spinning, blooming red and white like the Uchiha crest on his back. He looked furious.

Suigetsu grinned and winked at Sakura, dissolving into a puddle as he sunk into the ground. Susumu melted away, silent as a shadow. Sakura glared at Sasuke, but consoled herself that she'd only be around him for a day, maybe two at the most, and once that was done she wouldn't see him for over a year. She crouched low, reaching for her bags. It was time to put them in their designated scrolls.

Before she could, Sasuke was angrily swiping them out of her grasp and sealing them into scrolls of his own, shoving them into the obi tied loosely around his middle. Instantly, Sakura got the message; that he thought she was too weak, too irresponsible to handle even a measly pad of paper. She was furious.

"What is **with** you?" She demanded, trailing after him as he stalked off towards the gates. The rest of the LSF began rousing, splitting into their respective units. Sasuke turned his head as he walked, looking over his shoulder toward her.

"While you're with my team, you follow my rules. The Dobe should have told you that already."

"I can carry my own bags. Give them back."

He snorted in disbelief and turned his head, but it was too late. Sakura had seen it. His sharingan was fluctuating rapidly without him meaning to, a sure sign he was either upset, or severely injured. Sakura knew it was the former. "If I carry it, we'll travel faster." He was saying.

"It's a **scroll**."

"I said I'm carrying it."

"Are you mad at Naruto?" She demanded. She was so upset she was shaking. Her heart was fluttering inside her chest, and not in the good way. It felt suspiciously like a heart palpitation.

"Yes." He seethed. Sakura was shocked he even admitted to it. "The Dobe's being a dobe, and this is stupid. The border situation is tenuous."

"He's the Hokage." She argued. 'It's his right. Now give me my scrolls."

"No." Sasuke insisted. "This is the LSF. My rules. My platoon. If you don't like them, you can stay in Konoha."

When she managed to catch up to him, Sakura saw his eye was still fluctuating, shrinking and expanding in rapid succession as the pinwheel turned. It was going to start bleeding soon, she knew.

"Sasuke." She said, trying to move forward so she could stand in front of him, but he was walking too fast. "Sasuke."

"What?!" He snapped, turning back and nearly throwing the scrolls to the forest floor. He must have been really upset if he was this visibly worked up. It didn't happen often, but Sakura didn't care. She'd seen worse from him over the years, and she'd been under his genjutsu so many times she wasn't afraid of his eyes in the slightest. What was he going to do? Stab her again? Shove his hand through her chest? He'd killed her so many times in her dreams that his aggression had reached the height of pointlessness.

"You need to calm down."

"I **am** calm."

Without thought, Sakura reached up, craning her neck as she grasped his face in one hand and used the other to cover his eye. Her palm flooded with green. She thought he would resist, but he didn't, bowing his head and leaning inwards so she could reach him better. While she worked, he watched her with the rinnegan, the six tomoes spinning lazily but wholly stable. He was still breathing far too quick, however.

"You're going to hurt yourself." She told him blandly, and she didn't do it out of charity. She needed him to get her to where she was going as quickly as possible, so she could never, ever see him again. "You know you should only turn it on when you need it. I've told you this, numerous times."

The damage was minimal, but she could sense some serious pinching of the nerves behind his eyes, which must have been painful. Sakura wondered if his doctor was incompetent, or if Sasuke was just stubborn. Or stupid, or maybe both. The problem was old, and should have been fixed ages ago.

"Your nerves are pinched. Sasuke, why didn't you fix this? Where's your doctor?"

He sneered beneath her hand, and she could feel his facial muscles moving. It was an odd sensation. "I don't have one."

Sakura felt like she'd swallowed glass. When she was younger, she would have ranted and raved at his foolishness. She would have insisted that he let her help him, because she was a medic-nin and she was the only one he should have trusted. Now, she didn't want to think about it. She didn't even bring it up. She was older, wiser, and so goddamn tired. If she didn't talk to Sasuke beyond an initial question or two, he always dropped the subject.

Sakura sighed and ignored the omission, moving her hand to the center of his chest. His heartbeat jumped beneath her touch, but she was more concerned about the speed of his breathing. She sent a pulse of warm chakra through his chest to try and calm him.

"Your breathing's too fast." She told him, avoiding his gaze. He'd grown oddly quiet. "Try to self-moderate, okay? If you don't you'll give yourself a heart attack. Be careful, for Naruto's sake." It was the only thing they had in common. Sasuke had gone from hating the Hokage to being overprotective to the point of obsession. He was viciously loyal, and there was no middle ground with him. None at all.

"It's the family thing." Naruto had told her once, not long after the war when Sasuke was still halfway crazy. "It's all he cares about. You're either family or you're not." Sakura knew which side she fell on.

"Hnh." Mumbled Sasuke, and just as he was reaching up to remove her hand, Sakura drew away, far enough that she was out of immediate arms' length. She crossed her own arms defensively over her chest. Sasuke could keep the damn scrolls, for all she cared. She was done with him, and almost free of Konoha.

If Sasuke was thrown by her standoffish attitude, he said nothing about it, although even after she drew away, he stayed uncomfortably close to her side. Around them, the LSF had finished assembling and were ready to move out. When Sasuke spoke again, his voice was full of authority, the anger gone and the arrogance back.

"Don't stop until nightfall." He commanded. "Waterfall formation. Squad D, cover our rear. Remember the motto."

"Always, Cap'n." Suigetsu drawled, emerging out of the ground and strolling leisurely towards the gate. "_Scorch and Burn, LSF unto Death. _Let's bring the rain and make 'em scream."

Hanabi leaned over and smacked him upside the head.

"Shut it, Puddle. Get back to your unit."

"You know you love me, babe."

"**Suigetsu**." Snapped Sasuke. "Fall in line."

He did it instantly, without any consternation. If she hadn't been feeling so out of sorts, Sakura would have marveled at his obedience; at the way Sasuke's squad followed his command to the letter. She didn't. The LSF moved out. Soon, Konoha was nothing but a pinprick on the landscape behind them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Wow. I received way more feedback for the first chapter than I had originally anticipated, and I'm honestly shocked. A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed! I absolutely love hearing from you, and its great to know that you guys are enjoying the story. Just a quick clarification on the update schedule, because there seems to be some confusion over it: I **will** try to update more frequently, but I've got another story that's my main focus atm, and I also have to finish the revisions on my novel. As a result, my updates will be sporadic (i.e. I can't update every Monday night at the exact same time). Also, this next week – I'm totally swamped with convention prep. I highly doubt I'll be able to post anything.

_Q-e17: _glad you're enjoying the story! _Rawr_: adult content and mature themes are my bread and butter, so I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. _Poxxy: _I can't PM you unfortunately, so I'm just going to respond here. The recent lack of fics is actually why I'm writing this story. That, and stress. Tons and tons of stress. I'm a really picky reader, and when I can't find stories that pique my interest, I just write one myself. _LilyoftheValley_: Thanks! _Guest_: Thanks as well! (Although I'm not sure what else to call you? It feels kinda weird calling you "Guest." I guess that's the problem with anonymous reviews).


	3. Slenderwick

Chapter III: Slenderwick

* * *

><p>They traveled for a day.<p>

The LSF moved fast, their speed enhanced by a communal jutsu through one of its members with little thought to secrecy inside their own borders. As such, they made excellent time. Sakura would have been lying if she'd said it wasn't a struggle to keep up with them. Most of the nins were at peak performance, and while her chakra control was as impeccable as ever, she'd barely passed her physical.

They were making their way to the border junction between Ame, Kusa, and Konoha. It was a bit farther north than Sakura would have liked, as it made her trip longer, but she consoled herself with the fact that soon she'd be able to turn south and wind her way down towards Suna. Once they crossed Konoha's borders, it was assumed the LSF would go dark. The platoon was as subtle as a bag of fireworks, but they could utilize a minimum amount of stealth when the situation required, so long as you didn't light the fuse that set them off. Sasuke also kept a tight reign on his underlings.

While milling about the rendezvous point, Sakura had overheard whispers. Rumors that something northwest was eerily amiss. The LSF were tight lipped about the details, however, especially in the Uchiha's presence, so she didn't pry. Despite the twinge of insecurity that tugged at her chest when she thought of being excluded, Sakura knew it wasn't her place. The LSF never had been.

Sasuke's platoon traveled in squads consisting of six nins each, although ten of them had been left behind on account of other duties, including Sai. The squads changed patterns as they moved, randomly zig-zagging to make them more difficult to target. Each team was relatively well balanced in terms of skills, but it didn't take long for Sakura to understand the cruel calculus of how Sasuke divided them.

Offensive shinobi with aggressive bloodlines were placed in the vanguard, while defensive nins flooded the flanks. Anyone who tried to flee a main assault would run into a trap, where they'd be slaughtered. The entire operation was efficient, cold, and completely Sasuke; full of a detached sort of aggression that was fueled by paranoia and the ideological belief that the only way to protect yourself was with bigger, better weapons.

"He's working through it." Naruto had said, soon after the LSF was created. He'd been trying to placate Sakura's misgivings about giving Sasuke even more power to play with. "It's a good thing, Sakura-chan. It **is**, all right? The bastard needs something to protect. It keeps him focused."

There was barely any difference between a protector and an avenger, Sakura had thought. One was fueled by fear, the other anger. Still, she tried not to think too much about how little things had changed over the years.

Even though she was a close-range specialist, Sakura traveled with Sasuke at the head of the vanguard. It wasn't the best place for a medic to be, but the Uchiha was instantly recognizable, and only the truly suicidal would have dared to attack him. Sakura was marginally safer because of it. With them was a kunoichi named Aya, wielding a three-pronged gunbai akin to Madara's. There was also a pair of dark-haired twins from an integrated clan – Sora and Shun – along with Hanabi and Juugo. Suigetsu was annoying, and Karin had fucked off to god knows where several years back, but Sakura had always been fond of the third member of Taka. Before he'd died, Kakashi had helped Juugo perfect a seal that kept his fits of rage controlled. Without his anger, the hulking nin was sweet and understated. Even though he was fanatically loyal to Sasuke – it seemed to be a running theme in the LSF – Sakura had always thought that maybe, just maybe, he was a bit like her; quietly compensating for others, while slowly fading into the background.

Juugo had nodded to her in greeting before they'd set off, and Sakura had nodded awkwardly back. She didn't mind acknowledging him, but she'd been uncomfortable doing so because Sasuke was near, and he'd been watching. His sharingan had been dark, but the rinnegan was bright, tomoes spinning as he'd watched them like some sort of piebald harlequin that was beginning to uncomfortably resemble Madara. Sasuke's features were more delicate – his nose not as long, his chin not as wide – but the more he aged, the more he mirrored the mad Clan Head of the Uchiha Dynasty. If his hair had been longer, Sakura would have had been forced to do a double take to make sure it really **wasn't** him. It didn't help that their chakra signatures were nearly identical.

As they traveled, Sasuke's unnerving, singular focus began to make Sakura just the slightest bit paranoid, as it had been years since he'd paid any attention to her. She'd tried to travel beside Hanabi at first – she trusted the younger woman, and was comfortable around her – but it didn't last long. Sasuke was _hovering_. Sakura knew this because whenever she tried to move away, he would subtly change track and move towards her to make up the distance. When he moved closer, Hanabi fell back automatically, and Sakura was left alone. His movements were so slight they could have been mistaken for accidental, but Sakura had known him long enough to realize they were anything but. The sort of passive-aggressive attention he was displaying was painstaking familiar. It only served to wear Sakura down further, and the border couldn't come quickly enough.

Their pace was taking it's toll on her, and less than half an hour in Sakura realized just how out of shape she'd become. Her feet were numb, her joints aching every time she hit the ground. The constant nausea and building vertigo messed with her balance, and more than once Sakura had to quickly veer out of the way to avoid a tree. Even though she was carrying next to nothing, she was winded and her depth perception was off. The center of her chest ached. They didn't stop, as per Sasuke's orders, but when their pace slowed to cross a river system, Sakura reached into her pack and popped a soldier pill to keep herself going.

Sasuke sent her a side-eye that made it clear that he knew what she was doing, but Sakura didn't care, and in the end he said nothing. She knew Sasuke loathed weakness, but it was a momentary one. Tomorrow they would part ways without a word, and each could go on pretending that the other no longer existed.

They kept running. Sakura's strength kept flagging. She didn't feel low on chakra, per say, but something else: energy, perhaps, and definitely air. When Sasuke finally called the platoon to a halt on the edge of a bamboo grove near the border, it was all Sakura could do not to put her hands on her knees and start panting.

There were very few bamboo forests in Konoha, as it wasn't the right climate, but along the junction between Ame and Kusa they were practically endemic. The stalks were a vivid green, slender and widely spaced. Just ahead of them there was a wide strip of lush green grass, tall as a person's hip and growing in the dead zone along the border. Past the dead zone there was another bamboo grove, and when Sakura squinted, she saw the blue-grey outline of Iwa's mountains along Kusa's northern border. To the south, the grass stretched on unhindered, shrouded in heavy, low lying mists. Sakura could hear the faint rumble of thunder from Ame, but knew there was little chance of it coming their way. They were still too far off, and there was no wind to blow it towards them.

Sasuke stopped first. As if on cue, the rest of the LSF came to a rolling halt around him. Those along the ground loped to a standstill, while nins darting from tree to tree hung to the slender stalks with chakra. As the platoon paused, several sensors and a pair of Hyugas shot out ahead of them, staying low and darting through the long grass like wisps of shadows to circle the perimeter.

Hanabi came to a stop beside Sakura, standing between two bamboo stalks and head held high as she activated her byakugan. Veins bulging around her eyes, she stared past the tree line towards the field. Around them, the LSF waited in perpetual silence, masking their chakra and utterly static. Ahead, the grassy lea was quiet, but not suspiciously so, filled with the melody of whirring cicadas, buzzing mosquitoes, and the occasional croak of a frog.

Sakura tried to control her breathing. In the silence, it sounded embarrassingly loud. Eventually she had to put a hand to her chest to try and sooth the ache. She was feeling dizzy, and desperately wanted to lie down. When she touched her chest Hanabi tilted her head in her direction, as if she'd done something of interest. Still the other woman said nothing, watching and waiting with the rest of the LSF for the signal. Behind her and just to the right, Sakura could sense Sasuke's eyes on her back. He was like a looming, malevolent presence on the edge of her vision; a dense, unbearable mass of energy that, while relatively contained at the moment, had the tendency to eat through everything when unleashed, like the black fires of Amaterasu.

There was the hoot of a heron. Beside her, Hanabi relaxed, the woman's stance visibly softening. The LSF began moving again, only this time it was to set up camp, placing explosive tags around the perimeter and unpacking supplies. One of the nins – a short, brown-haired shinobi dressed all in purple – went through a series of complicated seals, casting an illusion over the encampment to hide them from prying eyes. Sakura was slightly surprised that Sasuke didn't do it himself, but then she reasoned he had no need to. He wasn't the only genjutsu specialist in the LSF, and he'd been with his platoon long enough to likely trust them with what they were doing.

Sakura remained where she was, rubbing at her chest where the ache was the worst. She stared apprehensively past the tree line, towards the open strip of grass and the thunderclouds in the distance. They were so dark they looked almost black. Hanabi didn't look at her directly, but she did lean towards her as she spoke. Her byakugan was still activated.

"Your heartbeat's arrhythmic." She murmured.

"Oh?" queried Sakura, hoping she'd drop it.

Hanabi deactivated her bloodline and rocked back on her heels, hands still on her hips as she followed Sakura's line of sight. "I don't think you should run for a few days." She said, then turned towards her, her expression almost verging on worried. "Just as a precaution."

Sakura was about to respond, but at that moment Sasuke breezed past them, so close that the sleeve of his navy shirt whispered against her arm. Sakura immediately took a shaky step backwards to gain some distance, but the Uchiha wasn't looking at her, and didn't seem to care. As he strode forward, he preformed a series of seals with both hands, then placed his right arm out, palm fisted, even as a shifting mass unfurled from a white cloud of miasma.

When the miasma cleared, there was a giant hawk perched on his forearm, its curving talons wrapped all the way around his wrist. The massive raptor was a meter long from head to tail, its feathers pitch black and eyes red. It clicked its beak and lunged threateningly at Sasuke's head, before flapping its wings and rearing back, letting off an ear-piercing shriek.

Without a word, Sasuke tossed the hawk into the air, and the bird took flight, swooping low over the dead zone before banking upwards. It disappeared into the mists towards Ame. Hanabi leaned towards Sakura again, her voice low.

"That's Matsuba." She said, nodding in the direction of the bird. "You met her before?"

Sakura took another step back and shook her head, suddenly uneasy. She'd never liked Sasuke's summons, and she didn't want to know the name of this one. They were all vicious, lethal and a danger to everyone except for him. Especially his snakes. **Fuck** his snakes.

"Don't go near her." Hanabi warned. "She used to be Madara's."

As if she needed another reminder of the war; as if Sasuke needed to seem any more _Uchiha_. Sakura felt sick to her stomach, and it had nothing to do with running all day. Determined to get as far away from him as possible, and positive her presence wasn't needed, Sakura turned back.

As she did so, Sasuke turned too, quickly striding towards them.

For a moment Sakura though he was going to pass, so she stepped aside to give him room and avoided his gaze. Instead, she felt his hand grip her arm, his hold firm and insistent. His long fingers curled around her elbow, digging into her sleeve. Sasuke was unnervingly tall up close, and next to him Sakura felt small and underwhelming. She barely came to his shoulder. The Uchiha began to pull her away from Hanabi, steering clear of the LSF to a more secluded part of the bamboo grove. The spot was still in the open, but far enough away that it made it obvious they weren't to be disturbed.

"Sasuke, what –"

"Follow me."

He wasn't giving her much of a choice, which was just such a _Sasuke_ thing to do that Sakura wanted to scream. Things never changed between them. He led, and she always followed, whether she wanted it that way or not. When they stopped, Sakura jerked her arm free with as much dignity as she could muster. Sasuke let her, but didn't move away, standing far too close as he turned around to face her. His expression was blank, head tilted and feet braced apart for balance, his inky hair falling across his forehead.

"**What**?" Sakura demanded, trying to rein in her paranoia. She was torn between wanting to punch him and curling up as tightly as possible, in the hopes that he wouldn't notice her. Distance. All she wanted was _distance_ from him. Had Naruto told him to keep an eye on her? Sasuke was being unusually insistent, and while he wouldn't seek her out on his own, Sakura knew if the Hokage had asked, he would do so in a heartbeat. The Last Uchiha was nothing if not fiercely loyal to those he deemed important, and Naruto was the center of his world.

"You have arrhythmia?" He said, to-the-point as ever. Sakura decided she wanted to punch Hanabi instead. Her hand absently rubbed at the spot above her heart, fingers kneading. Sasuke watched the action with the same intensity of the hawk he'd just set loose. Quickly, Sakura quickly lowered her hand and clenched it against her thigh, waving the other in the air.

"It's nothing."

"Hanabi doesn't lie."

"I said I'm fine –" But already, Sasuke was reaching into the small satchel at his hip and pulling out a packet of what looked like pills, pushing several into her unclenched hand. The second she got a good look at them, Sakura realized what they were. The pills were heavy duty: the kind you took to boost your entire system when you were seconds away from collapse. The meds were so strong you couldn't get them without a prescription from the Hospital Head, and Sakura had **never **signed off on giving Sasuke anything.

"Sasuke, these are s-boosters! You shouldn't have them!" A sudden thought occurred to her, horrifying and unsurprising all at once. "Have you been stealing meds from my hospital?" She demanded.

His response was blunt. "No. Naruto has."

The immediate sense of betrayal that flooded her system was so strong it almost sent her reeling. Sakura felt tears prick at her eyes and fought to keep them back. The Hokage. Naruto was the Hokage, but it was **her** hospital, and he and Sasuke had been going behind her back, probably for years. She didn't want it. She couldn't even look at him. Sakura never wanted to speak to either of them again.

Shaking and unusually devastated, she tried to give the pills back.

"I can't… I can't take it."

"You can." His answer was even firmer, his hands warm as he forcibly opened her fist. Sasuke carefully wrapped her thin fingers around the medication, covering them with his own before he pushed her hand towards her chest. He wouldn't let her drop it.

"I'm a medic –"

"Doesn't matter, take it."

"Sasuke!"

"Don't make a scene. The others are watching."

Furious and ashamed, Sakura swallowed quickly, lips grimacing and hands braced against her hips as shifted her weight from foot to foot and looked towards the ground. The shame stung, but the betrayal was worse. It was a small thing, really – nowhere near the most awful thing Sasuke had done to her, and she had zero expectations of him – but to do so with Naruto. Naruto **hurt**. Oh god did it hurt.

Sasuke remained terribly near, barely a foot between them as he leaned into her space. His head curled towards hers, shoulders hunching, his black hair brushing against her hood. He looked off to the side as he spoke.

"Tomorrow, I'm sending three of the LSF with you. Wait for them, understand? They'll act as escort."

"I don't need one."

"Tomorrow." He insisted, his hands braced on his own hips, sandals scuffing slightly across the dirt as he subtly shifted his stance. He was moving closer. Sakura could feel his breath rustling the strands of pink hair against her forehead.

"I want you to stop visiting my parents."

The omission came out of nowhere, and instantly Sakura regretted it. There was dead silence: the heavy silence of history hanging in the six inches of space between them. The long grass rustled around their legs, a rumble of thunder sounding in the distance.

It was the first personal thing Sakura had said to him since his breakdown in the tent, and she was horrified that she'd done so. Sasuke didn't say anything, but she could feel his attention on her. His **full** attention, thick and inescapable and stifling. Sakura could count on one hand the number of times he'd shown her any interest, but Sasuke's interest was singularly unforgettable in that the sensation was utterly nauseating. He made her hyper-conscious of everything around them in an instinctual flight or fight panic.

Slowly, she picked up on the little things. Sakura became aware of the way he braced his feet exactly shoulder width apart; how he wrapped his nin bandages from left to right around his narrow calves and ankles. The hands that were hooked around the rim of his belt were slightly chapped from constant fire jutsus, and he smelt like charcoal. Always the fire with him, and ash and ruin. He was too close for comfort, and Sakura was desperate to breathe.

"Never mind." She mumbled, putting a hand to her head and swaying where she stood. He still hadn't said anything. "Never mind, I don't know what I'm saying. Just forget it." She hoped he would. Without looking up, Sakura turned around and walked away.

She could feel his eyes on her back the entire time, burning a hole between her shoulder blades. Somewhere in the mists, Matsuba screamed.

* * *

><p>Night fell quickly, and because the LSF were hidden behind several layers of genjutsu, they could afford a few luxuries. One of them was an open fire pit over which to cook fresh food.<p>

Suigetsu went scouting for a bit, and when he returned it was to tell them there was a fast-moving river southwest of their location. He was hauling several large fish with him. The former mist-nin had barely made it to the fire before he was pulling out a knife and gutting them there, slitting the trout open along their bellies to remove the organs. After, he cut them into manageable pieces, skewering them on sticks to roast over the fire. Sakura sat with him and the others, on account that Juugo was present. Even though Sasuke was there, she was desperate for some sort of familial comfort, and the former Taka member was the closest thing she could find to it.

Sasuke's giant raptor had returned, and Matsuba was now perched on the log beside him, ruffling her feathers and snapping her beak near his face to get his attention. He reached over, scratching her behind her head. The bird practically preened at the contact. Sakura watched it, her back to the tree as she sat near the fire. It wasn't cold out, but she still felt chilled. On another log, the black-clad Aya sharpened the edge of her gunbai. A little ways off, the twins Sora and Shun were sleeping.

All in all, in was a quiet night.

Suigetsu continued to cook his fish. The bird acted like a bird. And for what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke just **sat** there, withdrawn and irritable, his head bowed as he braided wire strings into a noose. The Uchiha was traditional and big on family, and this played out in the way that he dressed; black nin pants that looked like they were a throwback to their grandparent's era, with a navy jinbaori thrown over a high collared, wide-sleeved shirt, both of them emblazoned proudly with the Uchiha crest. As he sat there braiding with single-minded determination, his slim fingers twisted in and out between the strands. On the log beside him, Matsuba shrieked at his lack of attention, and in response Suigetsu picked up the tail end of one of the fish and tossed it to the bird. The raptor caught it in her talons and bent her head, ripping the remains in half to swallow the first part in a single gulp.

Sakura lost her appetite, although it hadn't been there before.

She stood quickly, trying not to sway as she turned from the fire and fought against her flashbacks from the war. She had thought that she was over this – that they wouldn't come back. Quietly, she grabbed her pack off the ground, walking deeper into the grove.

She hadn't taken more than three steps before Sasuke's deep baritone rolled over her.

"Don't go far." He said. Sakura turned to look at him briefly. He wasn't looking at her, but he was braiding the strands of wire with more viciousness than was necessary. Briefly, she was struck with the urge to make a snide remark, but his hawk was ripping the fish to pieces, and the sight was making her sick.

Sakura shouldered her pack and turned her head, drawing her hood farther around her face as she walked away from the fire. She wandered for several minutes, past the main encampment and most of the LSF. Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura's hands clenched around her forearms as she tried to fight the urge to flee while eying the night-shrouded forest. She couldn't relax, and away from the others her anxiety was even more acute. She wanted to circle the perimeter, wanted to check for tags and complete her ritual, but she couldn't do so without the others noticing, and then there would be questions. And those questions would get back to Naruto.

Her little notebook scribbled with red was resting at the bottom of her backpack, a heavy reminder that she wasn't safe. Sakura tried to tell herself that everything was fine, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was in danger, and it had little to do with Sasuke. There was something out, there, watching them. Her instincts were **screaming** it.

She walked as far as she could without Sasuke sending someone to find her, and then Sakura began pacing, stalking back and forth in erratic circles as she rubbed at her chest to will away the ache. Sasuke. _Sasuke_. She'd thought she'd be able to handle a day or two around him, but it was so painful being near the Uchiha that her discomfort had veered into the physical. The itch was there again, building beneath her skin. Sakura periodically scratched at her arms as she tried to calm herself down, but it didn't work. She didn't understand why the hawk had set her off, although she did at the same time. The war was full of unpleasant memories for her – hundreds upon hundreds of them – although Sasuke's failed rebellion directly afterwards was acutely painful. She had done her best to bury the past in the way that most shinobi did, by repressing the memories and drowning what free time she had in work and alcohol. Sakura hadn't touched the liquor since Tsunade had disappeared, but work; work helped a lot, and for a time so did her self-imposed isolation in the hospital.

It was the bodies she remembered the best: the smell of blood as it mixed with disinfectant and rubbing alcohol. Sakura wasn't scared of blood – you couldn't be, if you were a medic – but during the war, it had been the sheer number of corpses that had shaken her. The injured would arrive, one after another, and Sakura would see sixteen waiting in line and know she didn't have enough chakra to save them. Then, a person had to think, long and hard and somewhat cruelly, _which ones should I heal today? Which ones should I not? _She hated triage.

There were so many failures. Some days, she felt like she was drowning in them.

Sakura paced some more, gnawing on her bottom lip and scratching compulsively at her arms as she stared at nothing in particular. She was fine, just fine. Her nerves were shot, and she was missing the blissful numbing sensation she got from working double shifts, but she was alright. The heart palpitations were definitely a sign that she was not at her best, but Sakura ignored it. The war was long gone, and all that was left were her ghosts. Her ghosts, and Sasuke.

That had to be it. She hadn't spent this much time with him in years, and there was a good reason for it, as being around Sasuke was like getting a Chidori to the chest repeatedly. Just thinking about interacting with him made her a nervous wreck, in and outside Konoha.

"Sometimes, people aren't good for each other." Tsunade had told her once, years ago, when Kakashi was still alive and Sasuke was definitely crazy. Her mentor had folded her hands in front of her, tired and sad and looking older than she had in years. "Don't feel pressured into anything you don't want to do, alright? **Especially** by Naruto, although I know he means well."

Sakura heard the snap of a twig. Instantly she looked up, crouching low and reaching for the kunai at her hip as she stared with rising paranoia into the gloom.

She wasn't able to see clearly in the dark, like a Hyuga or even someone like Sasuke, but she was just as good at sensing chakra at close range as any other nin. She did so now, reaching out with her senses as she quickly scuttled backwards, putting her blind spot to a tree. She could feel the rest of the LSF, a warm blur of intermingled chakras so thick that they could never be completely suppressed when they were in a group. All of them were behind her, and when Sakura reached deeper, she came across Sasuke's; currently dampened, but hot as acid, roiling inside of him and angry.

His chakra spiked when hers brushed against his, swelling and then meandering out after her, curious and almost _needy_. Sakura didn't have to be near him to know that she'd piqued his interest, and probably his paranoia. Instantly she clamped down on her own chakra, and hoped it wasn't too late. What was more troubling, though, was the rest of the forest.

In her front of her there was nothing. No chakra signatures of any sort, the bamboo standing like gray strips of paper in the inky blackness as they reached up towards the moonless sky. It was akin to looking into a vast pit and seeing nothing, a black hole from which no light emerged. But Sakura had heard the snap. She **had**, and she couldn't shake the feeling there was something out there, watching them. She wasn't safe. She never had been with Sasuke, but oddly, Sakura felt more awake than she had in years. Perhaps it was the slowly building sense of terror.

Her arms were stinging. She winced. Sakura looked down, and did a double take when she saw that she'd scratched at her left arm so hard the skin was red and bleeding. It wasn't bad, and the contusion would heal on its own in a day or two, but she didn't want anyone to ask any questions. Shooting one last look at the darkened grove, Sakura ran her hand over her arm and healed it, leaving the skin smooth and unblemished. She re-shouldered her pack and walked back towards the camp.

Sakura didn't return to the main fire where Sasuke was, but she did mingle amongst the rest of the LSF for her own peace of mind, walking in between small groups of nins lounging about until she found a spot that was mostly deserted. It was far enough away that no one would bother her, but close enough so as not to arouse Sasuke's suspicions.

Briefly, she contemplated speaking with Hanabi in order to clear up the woman's misconceptions about the heart palpitations, but decided against it. The Hyuga was too close to Naruto, and any additional talk on the subject would make her think there actually **was** something wrong. If she did, she would mention it to the Hokage, and if not him, then definitely Sasuke. The bonds of the LSF ran tight. Sakura supposed that the bonds of Team Seven ran deep as well, as Naruto and Sasuke were brothers in all but blood. Still, she didn't feel it. The familial ties of a team skipped over a member every now and then; it was rare, but over the years, out of all the squads, Sakura was the only one who hadn't bonded. She missed Tsunade, though, and she missed Kakashi. She missed her parents.

Sakura sunk down with her back to a bamboo tree, wincing at the way her joints ached as she sat cross-legged on the ground. She felt sluggish and tired, and no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to get warm. Maybe she was getting sick. Quickly, she did a self-diagnosis, turning her chakra inwards, but felt nothing amiss. She wasn't as in good shape as she should have been, and she was definitely a bit on the thin side, but otherwise, she came out clear. Still, Sakura decided that once she reached her destination, she'd set up shop and complete a more thorough diagnosis. It was good to be away from Konoha, but it didn't hurt to be too careful. If she was sick, they'd send her back early, and Sakura didn't think she could handle that at the moment. She desperately needed the space to breathe.

Fingers numb with the cold, Sakura reached into her satchel and pulled out her blanket and a packet of soldier pills, popping one out and downing it with a swig of water. After, she wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and settled down. She knew sleep would evade her, because she couldn't check the perimeter without the others noticing, but she needed her energy for tomorrow.

There was another snap of a twig, but this time it was purposeful. When Sakura looked up she didn't panic, sluggishly registering the sight of Susumu standing in front of her. He was all white and red and eerily pale, like some sort of tattooed ghost. The yellow-eyed nin was holding something out for her, offering it silently. Sakura squinted at it, then realized the object was an extra blanket, and looked up in question.

She couldn't see his expression from where she was sitting, but his tone was soothing. He seemed to be a very calming person in general.

"You get cold, don't you?" He demurred. When Sakura frowned, huddling up further beneath her own blanket and saying nothing, he clarified. "You were shivering."

"You're awfully observant." Sakura quipped. She knew he was just being kind, but she didn't want others watching her, and the fact that he had been made her paranoia spike.

Susumu shrugged. "No more than anyone else." He said, then. "It's just a blanket. I have another."

Sakura cautiously reached out and took the blanket from his proffered hand. It was relatively thin, but better than nothing, and when she wrapped it around her shoulders she felt marginally better, although her hands were still numb and beginning to feel like ice. Susumu continued standing in front of her, looking down as his baby fine hair wafted around his face.

"May I sit with you?" He asked. He was oddly formal in a rusty sort of way, as if he'd been trained to do so and then dropped the habit. Not wanting to cause a scene, Sakura shrugged, and he sat beside her; close, but still a respectful distance apart. His red tattoos and razored nails looked blue in the darkness, and when he pulled out a nutrition bar and started eating, Sakura quickly looked away.

They sat beside each other for several minutes, not saying much of anything. Sakura was too tired to talk, and while Susumu didn't mind speaking, he also seemed perfectly content with silence. He ate daintily, clean and without crumbs despite the inch-long claws that could slice open a jugular. Everything about him – from his appearance to the way that he moved – reeked of aristocracy, but was obviously suffering from disuse. He'd probably been removed from clan life for a long time.

"Do you like Konoha?" Sakura asked. He shrugged, finishing off the last bit of his food.

"It's fine." He said, his tone neutral. He had an odd voice – neither high nor low – and it was so soothing that Sakura found herself automatically relaxing just by listening to him. Susumu looked down at himself, then gestured briefly to his face, seemingly oddly unsure as he spoke.

"There are not many nins that look…" He seemed to struggle for a moment, so Sakura helped him along.

"Not a lot of nins with visible bloodlines?"

He nodded and folded up his used paper package with delicate movements, carefully creasing the paper as if holding a sheet of origami. He pressed it flat with the pad of his thumb. "Yes. Everything's on the inside, in Konoha. Shimo was different."

"How long have you been with the LSF?"

"Since the beginning."

Sakura settled further into her blankets, leaning her head against the tree. Susumu stayed where he was, sitting cross-legged, his back slightly hunched as he looked in the direction of the fire pit. Absently, he began playing with the piece of paper between his hands. His feathery blond hair was sticking in white blond tufts to his neck. The appendage was terribly slender, and Sakura could see the bumps of his spine.

"Do you like it?"

Susumu nodded. "Uchiha-san takes care of us. He is a good platoon leader."

Sakura's insides twisted, and she decided to drop the subject. She didn't want to talk about Sasuke, but she supposed it was a given when she was sitting with one of his subordinates.

"What's your bloodline limit?" She asked on a whim. Susumu shrugged, all white and red and terribly pretty. His features were more delicate than Sasuke's. A couple years back, Sakura would have never thought it possible.

"I'm a bone-eater." He said. Just as she was about to what a _bone-eater_ was, he added. "It's a short range, defensive bloodline. If someone gets past it, I use taijutsu, but they usually don't."

"I'm the same." Sakura said. When he looked up, eyes wide in surprise, she amended "Sort of, I mean. For the close range part."

Susumu's smile was soft and subtle in the darkness, but Sakura could still see it. "I know." He said. Sakura frowned, tightening her blanket around her.

"You do?"

There was a rustling between them, and Sakura looked down to see his hand outstretched once more, offering her an unopened nutrition bar. Her stomach churned at the sight, and Sakura swallowed hard, glancing up in question. Susumu stared back, blinking his yellow eyes owlishly.

"You have problems eating, right? I saw, at the shop. This shouldn't be too bad."

His words were utterly free of judgement, but even still, Sakura felt the stirrings of panic. She shook her head, grimacing at the offer as she put her hand atop his and gently pushed the food away. His skin was unnaturally smooth beneath hers, and once again Sakura found herself wondering how he'd managed to keep his hands callus-free in their profession.

"I'm not hungry." She said, and tried not to think of the worms. "I just had a soldier pill." Suddenly fearing she'd upset him, she added a quick "but thank you anyways" to the end of it.

"It's fine." He murmured. If Sakura imagined hard enough, she thought she could hear a trace of concern to his tone. The crinkling sound of paper resumed, and Sakura blinked in surprise when Susumu placed the nutrition bar atop her lap. Before she could comment, he had withdrawn his hand, burying it along with the other inside his wide sleeves as he looked towards the dirt.

"For later." He clarified softly. "In case you change your mind."

Sakura's chest ached. She thought of Kakashi in that moment; how kind he'd been to her before the end. She thought of Susumu's sister, a transplant in a foreign village, at home and all alone with her big brother always away. Swallowing thickly, she eyed the nutrition bar, picking it up and pinching the ends between her forefingers and thumbs as she turned it over. Maybe she'd be able to take a bite, if she didn't think about it too much. For him.

"You're too nice, Susumu." She managed to say without sounding too choked up. "Why are you even with the LSF?"

Susumu shrugged, reaching up to run a hand through his hair at the base of his neck. The strands stuck to his slim fingers with static, fluffing upwards like feather down. Even in the dark, it looked cotton-like.

"Uchiha-san says I am suited for it."

Sakura frowned at the mention of Sasuke and sniffed at the bar, bringing it close to her face.

"He would." She groused. "He likes nins that don't need weapons. Your Kekkei Genkai must really be something." Frowning further, she brought the nutrition bar within an inch of her nose, then let out a sound of shock. "Ah! How do you even handle these things without cutting them open?! Your nails are so sharp."

Susumu's hands curled self-consciously in his sleeves, hiding beneath the cuffs, and all of a sudden Sakura felt terrible.

"I am used to it." He offered, sounding unsure of himself. "I was born with them. They grow longer with age."

"That's really cool." Sakura said, increasingly desperate to make up for her insensitive comment, but she was sure he could tell it was forced. Still, she tried. "How… how long will they get?"

Susumu shrugged, hiding his hands further inside his sleeves. He didn't look at her.

"I'm not sure. My brother's were nearly four inches."

"Really?" Said Sakura, honestly impressed. The surprise fell away almost immediately to be replaced by a frown. "But I thought you had a sister."

"I do." He agreed, finally looking in her direction. Sakura couldn't read his expression, and his voice was flat. "There used to be three of us. Aniki died during the war."

"Oh." She said, and Sakura felt even worse than before. Here Susumu was, being genuinely friendly, and all she had done was bring up terrible memories and make awful comments about his appearance. She hated herself fiercely in that moment.

"I'm sorry." Sakura mumbled, putting a hand to her mouth as she tried not to choke on her words.

"Don't be." Susumu said. His voice was slightly hushed, his cat eyes luminescent in the dark. "It's not your fault."

Sakura got the weird sense that he was talking about something else, but didn't press it. Susumu seemed to come to the conclusion that he'd overstayed his welcome. He stood gracefully, a tuft of his blond hair sticking comically straight up atop his crown. Just before he left, Sakura felt the lightest of touches to her shoulder as he placed his hand there, squeezing gently.

"It's okay if you can't eat it." He murmured, and Sakura's heart clenched into a spasm. She nodded numbly, and he leaned back. As he turned to leave, she finally regained her voice.

"Wait!" She blurted out.

He stopped, and Sakura removed one of her hands from the folds of her blanket, beckoning him forward. He seemed perplexed, but followed her unspoken command. When Sakura kept urging him forward, he cocked his head in confusion.

"Bend down so I can reach." She mumbled. Although his confusion was evident, he did as she asked. Once he was at eye level, Sakura reached up, gently patting down the wayward tuft of his hair. It was outrageously soft, and the immediate thought that crossed Sakura's mind was not one of propriety, but _good god Ino would be jealous._

"Your hair." She mumbled thickly, patting down another tuft. "It was sticking up."

"Aa." He said, soundly oddly hoarse. Susumu stayed very still under her touch, eyes wide and yellow in the dark.

"Keep it covered when you're on stealth missions, alright?" Sakura said, overcome with worry even as she withdrew her hand. "It makes you a target." When she went back to Konoha, she would visit his sister, she decided. To keep her company.

"I promise, Sakura-san." He said, completely earnest. She sniffled a bit, rubbing at her nose with her free hand.

"Just Sakura." She said. "Only Sakura."

He nodded once, warmth infusing his voice. "Sakura." He agreed, then stood and departed without another word.

Sakura didn't mind that he left abruptly. She sort liked how ethereal he was; it was a breath of fresh air next to Sasuke's suffocating presence. Once he was gone, she shoved the nutrition bar into the bottom of her bag and resolved to forget about it. She wouldn't waste the food, but one of her "escorts" could surely use it the next morning.

Wrapping her blankets more firmly around her, Sakura brought her knees to her chest and curled in on herself, staring out into the darkness as she tried to blank her mind. She wasn't going to be sleeping, and without work to occupy herself with, she would be in for a long night. As she was sitting there, a soft rustling sound echoed through the long grass. It was an animal of sorts, Sakura surmised, but it seemed to be small, so she ignored it. As it drew nearer, she saw it for what it was, however; a small white snake with black eyes, flicking its tongue as it sensed its way towards her.

Instantly, Sakura's mood soured.

"Not now, Sasuke." She mumbled, curling in on herself. "I'm tired."

The snake didn't go away, slithering closer at a languid pace. Sakura tried to ignore it, because she was sick of Sasuke and sick of his snakes, but when the creature crawled up the bamboo tree and across her shoulders, curling inwards so its tongue flicked at the edge of her hood, she snapped.

Shakily, Sakura reached up, grabbing the snake behind its jaw so it wouldn't bite her. She removed it from her shoulders, aiming to dump it on the ground. The snake wrapped its tail around her arm as she did so, so Sakura ended up peeling it off her with a stick.

"Sasuke, keep you snakes off me, or I'll kill them." She knew he could near her.

In response, the snake curled in on itself, hissing angrily and fangs bared, but it didn't leave. Sakura fought the urge to go back on her word and behead it with a kunai. It was always snakes with him. Snakes and goddamn hawks. The entire arrangement was morbidly anachronistic, as one was prone to eating the other.

As she looked away from the snake and into the gloom, the bamboo forest seemed to expand, the slender stalks appearing endless. All Sakura could hear was the distant crackle of firewood from deep inside the camp; the occasional sound of a kunai being sharpened or two nins talking quietly to one another. At one point, there was the hoot of an owl, but otherwise all was silence.

Sakura didn't know when the snake left, or even if it did. One moment she was staring into the gloom, feeling unusually sluggish, and the next she was being shaken awake. Soft morning light was filtering lazily through the bamboo grove. A cloying mist was clinging to the ground.

"–kura." Someone was saying, and it took Sakura several horrifying seconds to realize that she was suddenly awake. Hanabi was shaking her shoulder gently, crouched beside her and expression tight with concern.

"Sakura. Are you alright?"

The reality of the situation sunk in, followed by panic. She'd fallen asleep. She'd drifted off without meaning to, and she hadn't done the _check_. She could have been killed. She could have been knocked out, and an enemy might have walked right past her and killed someone else.

_Oh gods._

Sakura let out a gasp and flailed forward, instinctively lashing out as she tried to free herself from her blankets. Hanabi grabbed her hand to steady her, her other braced against her back to keep her from falling. Sakura gasped, over and over again, head spinning as she fought the instinct to whip out a kunai.

"How long was I out?" She asked in between breaths. Hanabi's frown deepened, but she answered anyways, albeit with trepidation. "I don't know." She admitted. "But we have to assemble. Now."

The dread grew. Sakura remembered the gloom, the pit of blackness that had trickled out from between the trees. _Something was watching them._

"What's wrong?" She demanded.

Hanabi grimaced and pulled back. "I don't know. But one of our sensors disappeared during the night – Yuuto. We can't find him."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Oh wow. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and its wonderful hearing from you all. Convention season is over for me, but there's still a lot going on so I've tried to build up a bit of queue. For the next month or two, this story will (hopefully) be update on a biweekly basis. For those of you who I can't PM:

_Kurumi_: At the moment, you can read Sakura as being sick or mentally unstable, whichever one suits your fancy. I haven't actually clarified which one it is yet, because what's wrong with her will play a major part in the story. _Cuito_: I'm glad you're enjoying it! Every now and then I post chapters closer together, but it's probably not going to be the norm. _Alicera_: I plan to. _Guest: _I'm not sure if this story is the best (that's a very tall order), but that's definitely a goal worth aiming for! _Guest (who mentioned writing style)_: I'm glad you like my style. And I'm relieved the characters come off as canon. _Guest (who mentioned writing fanfics)_: I used to be really nervous about showing my work to others, too. When I was in high school, I used fanfiction as a way to get over that fear, because to be honest when people critique your original work they are much harsher (and when you mess up, it **burns**). Fanfiction helped me build a thicker skin for criticism, and I'm grateful for it.

_Poxxy: _Aw, I've been there - the haircut part, that is. And I always try to reply to reviews, even the negative ones. Unless someone's being abusive towards another or myself, I think everyone deserves a response. As for your questions: all of them (Sasuke, Kakashi, Tsunade, etc.) will be explained in later chapters. _Justsomegirl: _I don't know if you need to check that often to see if I've updated! Haha. But I'm thrilled you like my style, and I'm thrilled you like the characters. I do plan to finish – it just might take me awhile.

_AAA_: Grab your pickaxe, we'll dig a mine. It's gonna be a party.


	4. It Comes in the Dark

A/N: The series ended. Time to celebrate with an early chapter. Yer welcome.

Chapter IV: It Comes in the Dark

* * *

><p>Yuuto was gone. The LSF nin was missing, and nobody – not even Sasuke – knew where to find him.<p>

Although the platoon wasn't in chaos, there was an undercurrent of confusion that ran through the air as they assembled by the tree line to await their orders. The LSF had been around for six years, and three hundred skirmishes and two major battles later, they had yet to lose a single nin. The worst injury they'd ever received was the amputation of someone's hand three years back, and there was no desertion. Sasuke's platoon was fanatically loyal, and the Uchiha himself was utterly obsessed with the Hokage.

Foul play was suspected. Yuuto hadn't been on perimeter watch, but something had definitely grabbed him during the night. No one had sensed anything, either, nor heard a sound. As she sped towards the tree line with the others, Sakura remembered the blackness – the all-consuming void of nothing, the snap of a twig – and felt sick.

At the edge of grove, Sasuke and the other offensive nins were already in formation, standing still and hiding in the dappled shadows of the slender, greening bamboo. The Last Uchiha was crouched on top of a large mossy rock, with both his eyes activated and Kusanagi drawn. He cocked his head to the side like a bird's, staring across the dead zone and sharingan pin wheeling. His free hand was draped deceptively loose across his knee. Sasuke was at his most dangerous when he looked like didn't care, because it meant that he **didn't**, and would probably cut down anything that got in his way. Around the base of the boulder twined one of his summons; a massive albino snake, thirty feet long with a pitted head like a viper's. As it coiled around the rock, it rumbled words to him in a language only Sasuke seemed to understand.

"Orochimaru was the same way." Juugo had told her years ago, when she'd found Sasuke sitting on the ground and speaking to one of his snakes. "They only listened to him, too."

Beside Sasuke was Aya, and beside her was the aforementioned Juugo. Suigetsu was standing nearby with his sword drawn, his hands wrapped around the hilt and chin resting on the pommel as he stared lazily in the same direction.

They were all eying some point across the field in the indefinable distance, but when Sakura followed their gaze, she saw nothing there. There was no sound, just the occasional chirp of a cricket and the rumbling hiss of Sasuke's snake. The thick mists clung to the field as the sun began to rise over the bamboo grove behind them, making it difficult to see because of the glare. It was the perfect set up for an ambush, but no one in their right mind would ever attack the LSF.

Except, Yuuto was missing.

"There's something out there." Sasuke said, his head still tilted and voice unnervingly languid. He almost sounded like he was in a trance. Slowly, he straightened to his full height, re-palming Kusanagi as he did so. At his feet, the massive serpent hissed something intelligible. "I can't see it," Sasuke continued. "But there's a void. No chakra of any sort, directly ahead."

There was a pause among the assembled nins, then the calm, quiet command of "Hanabi."

The young woman strode forward, activating her byakugan. "Anything?" Sasuke queried, still sounding far too dull. Sakura hung back, nervously palming her kunai. Beside her she felt someone move close, and when she looked to her side she saw it was Susumu, three pupils visible in either eye and nails tapping soundlessly against his palms.

Up ahead, Hanabi grimaced and shook her head.

"Nothing."

Sasuke straightened. His eyes took on a hard glint, elegant eyebrows furrowing as he gripped his sword hilt hard. A non-verbal command seemed to pass between him and his summon. Without a word, the giant snake let out a reverberating roar and shot out into the grass, the long reeds rustling around it as the creature carved itself a path through the field.

"Squads A and C, up front. Flush them out." Sasuke commanded. "Squads B and E, cover the flanks. Squad D, guard the rear. Suigetsu –"

"Yeah Cap'n?"

"Scout ahead. Try to find the body, if there is one. Hanabi, with Sakura."

Without a word, Suigetsu melted into the ground and was gone in a ripple of water. Sasuke jumped off the rock, reaching over to grab Sakura's elbow and pulling her aside to talk. As they stood still, the LSF rushed forward around them en mass, streaking across the grassy lea. They moved so quickly they were nothing but blurs. Sakura's hair whipped forward with the wind as they darted into the dead zone.

"How much chakra do you have?" Sasuke murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. Sakura reached up subconsciously, touching the seal on her brow.

"Enough."

Sasuke turned his head towards her, just a bit so he could look her straight in the eye. For a moment, all Sakura saw was the pinwheel of the eternal mangekyō. He was standing close enough she could make out his individual eyelashes, dark and thick as his hair.

"Think you can use it?" He asked. Sakura frowned but gave him a tight, professional nod.

"Of course."

Even as she spoke, he was reaching into the folds of his jinbaori and returning her sealed supplies. He rudely shoved them into her satchel himself before quickly reaching for her hand. Sakura felt him push his packet of pills into her palm, his fingers curling around hers and covering them to make her clasp the boosters tighter.

"Just in case." He bit out, before letting go. "If things go south, take Squad D and head to the village. Warn Naruto."

Something was wrong. Sakura desperately wanted to ask _what_, but didn't. They were professionals, and she knew that questioning the squad leader during combat could get someone killed. She clenched her jaw and nodded, but decided she still had to tell him.

"Last night, I saw something." She admitted.

"**What**?" His tone was sharp.

"In the grove. I think there was something watching us past the tree line." Sasuke's hand re-gripped hers, fingers clenching hard enough to bruise and potentially crush the pills beneath.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Sakura told him the truth. She couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. "I thought I was imagining it."

Sasuke frowned but didn't say anything. His eyes met hers for a brief moment before he slunk away. Sakura didn't wait up. She immediately fell back and palmed her kunai, reaching up to pull her hair out of her face and shuck off her coat. She'd either be healing or hurting someone within the next couple minutes, and no matter what happened the extra fabric would get in the way.

Beside her Hanabi ducked down, her byakugan still active as she signaled with her hands that the squad should move back. The rest of them complied without a word. With them was a sensor Sakura didn't know the name of, along with a kunoichi that had flaming red hair pulled away from her forehead and puffed out in the back like a rooster's tail. Also there was another Hyuga, and Susumu.

The blond-haired nin was silent as they melted into the bamboo grove, easily noticeably amongst the verdant green with his pale coloring, but seemingly unconcerned by this fact. His expression as they flitted amongst the trees was eerily blank. When they had drawn back about thirty yards from the dead zone – deep enough that they were hidden from prying eyes, but still possessing a good view of the area – he stopped and turned abruptly, looking back the way they came. Bracing his sandal-clad feet shoulder-width apart, Susumu cocked his head to the side as if listening for something, before raising his hands in what was unmistakably the first move in a series of seals.

Sakura stopped as well and turned towards him, intending to hunker down, but Hanabi tugged on her arm and shook her head, gesturing with a nod of her chin further into the trees.

"Not here." She said, mouthing the words. "Can't stay. Bone-eater."

Sakura frowned at the term. She still wasn't sure exactly what Susumu's bloodline limit was, except that it seemed to be dangerous. Despite this, she followed Hanabi without complaint. Mimicking the Hyuga's example, she swung herself up into the foliage, clinging to the smooth stalks of bamboo with chakra. Hanabi placed herself perpendicular to the trees on another trunk right beside her.

Hanging as they were in the treetops, a good twenty feet off the ground and an additional ten yards back, they had a decent view of the surrounding area. Susumu was still on the forest floor, and thirty yards ahead of him was the tree line, where the bamboo grove met the field. The mists were so thick Sakura couldn't see the other side of it. Behind them the red-haired kunoichi executed a series of hand seals. Three shadow clones burst forth from smoke clouds to cling to nearby trees, before darting off in various directions.

Then, they waited.

And waited, and **waited**, and still there was nothing.

There was no distant clash of kunai, nor the sudden spike of chakra from bloodlines releasing that one would expect in a battle. The early morning mists hung heavy across the field, the rising sun glancing off the wet grass and making it shimmer with dew. Sakura could hear the occasional chirp of a cricket and the painful thudding of her heart echoing loudly in her ears, but everything else was silent.

Hanabi's byakugan were still activated, her breaths slightly quickened. Behind them, the red-haired kunoichi waited in silence, and to their left, the other Hyuga. The sensor was even farther back.

"I can't see anything." Hanabi said suddenly, her words sowed with confusion. Beneath her tone, there was just the slightest trace of fear. Sakura swallowed nervously.

"What do you mean?" She whispered.

"I can't **see**." Hanabi insisted, and the fear was definitely audible this time. Behind them the red-haired kunoichi shifted her weight, clambering up higher. "They're all gone." Hanabi said. "Nothing's there."

At that moment, they heard a low moan. It came from behind them in the trees.

The moan was human and not at the same time, low and warbling and almost guttural. If Sakura had to pin the sound on anything, she would have said it was like the deep, reedy, _wet_ noise a person made when their lungs were punctured. As she strained her ears to listen, the moan sounded again. It was louder this time, and directly behind them. There was no chakra there, but someone was moving closer.

Beside her, Hanabi turned instinctively towards the source. Her byakugan were straining, but the more she stared, the more her panic grew.

"I can't see it." She repeated. Hanabi panicking was a strange sort of thing. It started slow, almost disbelieving of her own discomfort, before her voice wavered as it rose in volume. The two of them heard a third moan. Another moment passed, then –

"I'm blind." Hanabi gasped, gripping at the tree trunk with visible shock. "Sakura, I'm blind. I can't **see**. Something's blocking me –"

There was a fourth moan – much louder this time – and from the thicket of bamboo there was a loud _crack, _as trunks were broken and whole shafts of bamboo began falling forwards. Sakura gripped her own tree, sweat dotting her brow as she strained her own senses, but she was just as blind as Hanabi. In front of them, all she could feel was a void. A pit of nothingness.

"Fall back." Sakura hissed at Hanabi, who seemed out of it with shock. "We need to fall **back** –"

There was a scream. A loud one, and very human, from somewhere not far away in the trees. It was the sensor. Hanabi flinched against the trunk and went to surge forward.

"Tomomi!" She breathed, but as she did so the red-haired kunoichi behind them let out a panicked shout. The chakra that was holding her to the tree flickered visibly, before shutting off.

A second later, she was falling head first towards the ground.

Sakura tried to dart towards her to stop the fall, but in that moment Hanabi let out a gasp as well, and then her byakugan was deactivating and she was sliding down the bamboo trunk, too. The Hyuga madly scrabbled against the bark to keep herself from falling. Sakura leaned over, grabbing her hand, but then her chakra died and she was sliding as well.

The red-haired kunoichi hit the ground hard, her neck breaking with a sharp _snap_, and then she was still.

"It's gone!" Hanabi gasped, clinging desperately to the tree even as she fell. "It's gone, it's gone, I can't see **anything** –"

"Get down!" Sakura yelled, holding onto Hanabi's hand even as her other one tore open against the bark as she tried to stop their descent. She was back in the war again, where panic was her fuel and there was no time to think. _Never any time to think, never, never, never –_

There was another moan from the trees, another harsh snap of bamboo trunks breaking. There was still no sign of the LSF. The other Hyuga was sliding down the bamboo with them, and they had no chakra. _Oh god, where is my chakra? Where is everybody?_

On the ground, Susumu turned towards the disturbance, his movements slow and eyelids heavy as if in a trance. His chakra was still working, and whatever was in the trees was moving towards him, veering off course to meet him head on. He didn't move.

_No. _Sakura thought, instantaneous and blinding. _No, no, no, not another one, not another corpse –_

"Susumu!" Sakura shouted, trying to get his attention, but he didn't answer. He didn't seem to realize she was even there.

Sakura was still ten feet from the ground, but she jumped anyways, leaving Hanabi to slide down the rest of the tree by herself. She hit the ground hard, and barely remembered to roll as she did so. Without the aid of her chakra the impact was jarring, her legs wobbling and feet in agony as she surged upwards and rushed towards Susumu.

He was still staring towards whatever was dragging itself through the trees, re-bracing his feet as he began to go through a series of seals. The thing was heading right towards him, picking up its pace, and Sakura had a sick feeling in her gut that he wouldn't make it. She wasn't going to let him die. She wasn't. He had a little sister.

"Susumu!" She gasped, rushing towards him.

"Sakura, no!" Hanabi cried, landing hard on the ground. "No! Don't touch him! He's a bone-eater!"

As Susumu finished what looked like the last seal of the set, Sakura slammed into him. The two of them went flying backwards, and as Sakura wrapped her arms around him and collided with his chest, she felt the burn of acid along her skin. Beneath his feet where he'd been standing, a sheet of white akin to ice shot outwards across the forest floor. Hanabi frantically rolled out of the way to avoid it.

They landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs, uncoordinated and shaking due to a lack of chakra. Susumu was dazed, blond hair falling across his eyes as he groggily looked around himself and struggled to get up, trying to push her away.

The burning. Oh gods, the burning. Sakura's arms felt like they were on fire. To their left their was another ear-piercing scream that was abruptly cut off as the other Hyuga went under. Another bamboo tree cracked and fell down with a groan. Then Hanabi was there, her hand on Sakura's collar as she yanked her away from Susumu.

"Get up!" She gasped. "Get up, get up, get up, we gotta go –"

Suddenly Susumu let out a sound like an angry hiss, his efforts to stand taking on a frantic motion. The earth beneath them shook. Then, they were **all** trying to get up and get away, as the ground began to bubble and boil.

Reeling from vertigo, horribly confused as to exactly what was happening, Sakura ran with the others towards the open field. They broke through the tree line, scattering like rabbits. Sakura tried to remember the proper formation to follow when in full-out retreat, but without her chakra her senses felt thick as cotton, and it was almost impossible to remember anything except the terror.

It was like a blindfold. A blindfold that covered the whole body, dulling her reactions and making her panic. Sakura felt like she had a gaping hole in her chest where her chakra used to be, and the agony of not having it – of missing something so crucial to her existence – was utterly devastating. It wasn't chakra exhaustion, but the complete absence of it, like walking while dead and still being cognizant of the fact.

Running pell-mell across the field was pointless if you didn't know what else was out there, but there was something crashing through the trees behind them, and the rest of the LSF were missing. Sasuke. _Sasuke_. Sasuke hadn't come back. He was gone, gone, gone like the rest of her chakra, and _Naruto, _Sakura thought miserably. _Naruto will be devastated._

They continued running across the field, traveling south through the dead zone along the edge of the mists. The grass rustled loudly against their legs as they ran, their breathing harsh in the relative silence. Hanabi was ahead and running with ease, but her skin was stark white with terror. Susumu brought up the rear, back hunched as he stayed close to the ground. Sakura wasn't doing so well. She'd been feeling off before, and without the aid of her chakra she was nearly dead on her feet. There were acid burns up and down her arms from where she'd touched Susumu, the skin red and angry and weeping.

_My arms, _she thought numbly, and in the back of her brain, the logical part of her mind told Sakura that she was probably going into shock. _My arms, they're going to melt off. How can I heal people without my arms?_

Behind them, there was the crash and groan of more trees falling. When they were far enough away, Hanabi made an abrupt turn south, seemingly to head back to Konoha. Susumu followed easily. Sakura tripped and fell to the ground when they did, skidding hard. Braking on his heels and swinging his arms wildly to maintain his balance, Susumu scrambled sideways to grab her hand and drag her upright without looking back.

"Come on, Sakura." He murmured, practically dragging her forward. He was gripping her hand so hard his nails were slicing into her skin. "Come on. You can do it. You **can**."

The acid was still burning her arms. The top layer of skin was gone, and her blood was everywhere, running down her appendage and mingling in a red, sticky mess between their interlocking fingers. Sakura tried to hang on.

"The others!" She gasped, tripping again only to be pulled to her feet. "The LSF – Sasuke – we have to go back!"

No nin in their right mind would, and if a squad was decimated it was of utmost importance that at least one of them made it back to the village. But in that moment all Sakura could think about was the bodies: the bodies, and Sasuke missing. She couldn't bear to disappoint Naruto or anyone else ever again, like she had with Kakashi, or Tsunade shortly thereafter. There were so few of them left, and she was a medic. Her arms were melting and Susumu's hand was a vice around hers as they pelted across the field, but still, she wanted to try.

All of a sudden, there was a sonic _boom_ from somewhere in the mists, followed by the tell-tale roar of a firestorm. An inhuman groan echoed through the clearing as black flames exploded outwards in all directions, mingling with the overwhelming screech of birds.

Then Sasuke was there, standing right beside them. He appeared like a black smudge on the landscape, blurring out of nothing and breathing hard. His eyes were bleeding rivers, his shirt torn open and Kusanagi red with fluid all the way to the hilt. Behind him there was a rumbling sound as Susanoo rose above the mists, giant and terrifying as it unfurled to its full height and attacked something still out of view.

An eerie, earth-shattering screech like the call of a whale sounded. The ground trembled and shook. A crash followed, and on the other side of the dead zone in the bamboo grove, the trees began caving inwards en mass. Another screech sounded from the opposite direction to mimic the first, from somewhere near Susanoo.

"MOVE!" Sasuke bellowed. Then they were running faster than before, and Sasuke was darting ahead of them. They scattered farther down the dead zone, away from Konoha and towards Ame's borders. The ground was bubbling and beginning to break apart beneath their feet. Sasuke was covered in blood, and Susanoo was still behind them. In a moment of utter panic, Sakura's brain began to break down, because all could think about was that he shouldn't have been able to **do** that. It was going to kill him, and Naruto was going to be so upset, and _oh god where are the others where are the others, why are we running it's the war sasukeisgoingtokillhimself –_

Behind them, the bamboo grove finished caving inwards with a mighty groan, the slender trunks falling one after another in slow succession as the ground beneath them turned to mud. There was black fire burning across the horizon, the flames of Amaterasu seeming to spread unchecked.

"MOVE!" Sasuke repeated, his eyes still spinning as he darted towards the river. The rest of them followed as quickly as they could. Hanabi was in front, and Sakura and Susumu still took up the rear. The way to Konoha was completely blocked, and their mad scramble was made all the more frantic by the fact that their chakra had dissipated. The only one who seemed to have anything left at all was Sasuke, and even with what he had, he used sparingly.

Behind them there was another screech, furious and deep as a sonic boom sounded and the ground beneath them vibrated. A second later, there was the unmistakable sound of wire ripping through the air as it violently snapped loose from its tether.

The whole lot of them ducked, but barely, and as they did so Sakura felt something massive whip by just over their heads, displacing air and flattening grass. The second it passed, they kept running. Sakura didn't know how much more she could take without her chakra to aid her. Her arms burned, and as they made another sharp turn towards the river, she lost hold of Susumu's hand, her bloody fingers sliding from his.

Without pause, Sasuke darted back and grabbed her by the back of her shirt, violently hauling her upwards and screaming at her to move. Once she was running again, he darted off, streaking back into the mists.

"Don't look." Hanabi was chanting to herself as Sakura caught up to her, face white as a sheet and a kunai clutched tight in her hand. "Don't look, don't look, don't look –"

"Cap'n!" Someone yelled, and then Suigetsu was running out of the mists towards them, holding his body low to the ground. Sasuke quickly re-emerged, darting diagonally across their path and tossing the former mist-nin a scroll. Suigetsu caught it in one hand and held it between his teeth, falling back and sinking into the shadows.

Behind them there was another _boom_. Susanoo buckled, then imploded.

Sasuke fell when it did, tumbling and rolling across the ground as he hit the earth full tilt. He barely managed to get back to his feet. To their right where Suigetsu had disappeared, there was a crackling roar, then a giant fireball as another explosion went off. Sakura heard the shrill, whale-like call of whatever was chasing them, followed by a deep rumbling that shook the ground as the thing began to move in Suigetsu's direction. Sakura didn't look back.

_Don't look, _she chanted inside her head as she took up Hanabi's mantra. _Don't look, don't look, don't look –_

Suigetsu's fast-moving river was up ahead of them; one of many nameless streams that flowed into Ame, wide and plagued by rapids. Sasuke surged forward and jumped into the water. The rest of them followed without thought.

The plunge took Sakura's breath away. It was cold. Colder than she'd been expecting, and without her chakra the shock to her system was too much. She felt her heart clench, the pain akin to a muscle spasm, her senses failing as she nearly struck her head on a river rock and gasped for air beneath the surface. All she got was water. Water and more water. She couldn't breathe, and her panic was so acute her training was actually failing her.

A hand grasped her collar, yanking her up. When Sakura emerged on the surface, gasping and choking, she caught a flash of red and white beside her, then registered the hurried weight of Susumu's hand pressing against her back. He spread his fingers between her shoulder blades, pushing her forward. Sakura knew what the action meant and didn't hesitate.

She flattened her body to the water and used the momentum of the push to guide her, following the force of the stream.

* * *

><p>"Do you have enough chakra?"<p>

"I don't, I'm not sure –"

"**Do you have enough chakra**?" Sasuke's voice had a frantic edge to it as he crouched in front of her, eyes still spinning and cheeks covered in gore. He was visibly unraveling, staring at her in an unfocused way like he couldn't see. This was confirmed when he blindly reached out, pale fingers clumsily grasping for the collar of her shirt to hold himself steady.

Sakura sat there on the riverbank next to the fast moving rapids, soaked to the bone and shaking from shock. Her arms were stretched out in front of her, the insides facing up, teeth chattering as she looked at the blistering skin. The blood had been washed away, leaving behind raw flesh that was akin to uncooked ham. Beside her on the riverbank, Hanabi was keeled over, her hand to her forehead as she rocked herself back and forth. The young woman was not taking the loss of her bloodline well at all.

"I don't know, maybe." Sakura amended through her chattering teeth. Behind them farther down the river, there was another whale-like scream. They tensed, and in unison all of them turned to look back the way they came, waiting on a hairpin trigger to flee if anything came down the river behind them. "The chakra, it might come back –"

Sasuke turned towards her again. "What about your seal?"

"H-huh?"

His hands were on her collar, slim fingers curling around it as he shook her slightly for emphasis. Sasuke stared blindly in the direction of her face.

"Your seal. The one on your forehead. Does it have** chakra**?"

"Oh." Said Sakura, swallowing hard and closing her eyes as she willed herself to be calm, but the terror was encompassing and acute. "Um, I think so. Y-yeah. Yeah, maybe. A bit." Calm, she needed to be calm, but it was the war again, and she didn't have enough chakra to mend the bodies.

_Oh gods where is the rest of the squad, where are they, there are so few left –_

There was Hanabi and Suigetsu. Susumu and Aya. The twins Sora and Shun, along with Sasuke and Juugo. Juugo was missing his entire arm from the shoulder down. The rest of them – only six more in total – were LSF members Sakura didn't know the names of.

"Unseal it." Sasuke commanded, and there was no room for argument. "Fix yourself, then we move."

"But the others. Juugo's arm –"

"We're **leaving**." He insisted, and then Sasuke was standing jerkily, fists clenched and entire body tensed like a startled cat's. "We can't stay."

"Sasuke –"

"We'll need you to fix us later. Suigetsu, bandage Juugo's arm while she heals hers."

Suigetsu spat and ran a trembling hand through his messy, mud-matted hair. "Shit." His words were a choked, miserable warble.

It was true. Sakura knew it was true, and she shouldn't have been arguing, but she still couldn't help it. The situation was a disaster. An absolute disaster. There had been forty LSF in the platoon at the time of the assault, and now there were fifteen of them; the rest were missing, but presumed dead. They had been resting on the riverbank for ten minutes, hiding from whatever was hunting them while waiting to see if any other nins showed up, but there had been none. They still had no chakra.

Sasuke had some, but his bloodline was fluctuating rapidly. Susumu's skin had turned completely white and crystalline as he crouched on a river rock. Aya was leaning on her gunbai, breathing hard. She had some chakra too, but everyone else was down for the count. The other LSF had gotten too close to whatever had attacked them. Too close, and _oh fuck it was the darkness, the darkness was watching us –_

Shakily, Sakura unsealed the seal on her forehead, and there was a spike of chakra that flooded her system, warm and desperate as she quickly healed her own arms. It wasn't enough for the others. Not nearly enough. The void had drained her seal, too. The acid burns were deep, and they would probably scar, but the wounds were still manageable. Sakura didn't look at Susumu as she fixed them.

"Fuck." Swore Suigetsu as he finished tying a bandage tight around Juugo's stump to try and stop the bleeding with a tourniquet. "**Fuck**." Then he was shoving himself away and tossing the bandages to the dirt, threading his fingers through his hair as paced raggedly back and forth. His back was all torn up, shirt nearly gone and flesh ripped open like it had gone through a meat grinder. If Sakura didn't fix it soon, he would bleed out, but Juugo was bleeding even faster, and _oh god Sasuke's going to go blind –_

Triage, Sakura reminded herself. Triage. _Just like the war. _

"Fuck." Suigetsu said a third time, his teeth chattering with shock, and then he was rounding on Sasuke just as another LSF finally emerged from the river, gasping for air. It was a Hyuga. Two other nins quickly rushed over to help him.

Sixteen. There were sixteen of the now.

"Fuck, did you **see** that?" Suigetsu said. "Did you see what it did to –"

"Not now." Sasuke said through clenched teeth, running his own hands through his hair and mouth twisting into a grimace. His eyes were shut tight, and Sakura knew he had a migraine just from the way he held himself. The pain must have been excruciating, but the only sign he gave that he was in any at all was the slight trembling that overcame him and the clipped nature of his words.

"Fuck this." Suigetsu swore. "Fuck it. I'm done, I'm so done. I'm not going back, I'm not –"

"Suigetsu, not now."

"WE JUST GOT SLAUGHTERED!"

"I KNOW!" Sasuke roared, and then he was rounding on the other nin, eyes open and whirling, fresh blood spilling past the rims and snaking its way down his face. His hair was wild, pulled up at odd angles and sticking out every which way from his nervous threading, and he looked like Madara in that moment; younger, less composed, but just as frenetically angry.

Sakura was scared of him. Of everything, really. She hadn't been this scared since the war. The chakra from her seal was already flickering.

"We have to go back." She said, as if in a trance. "To warn Konoha." Sasuke turned to her, running his bloody hand across his mouth as he stared hazily in her direction. He didn't acknowledge her one way or another, but beside him the dark-haired Aya sneered and spat blood, nervously re-gripping the shaft of her gunbai.

"We won't be able to outrun it." She told him bluntly. "We're too weak."

"Outrun **what**?" Demanded Sakura, but no one listened to her. Sasuke was already redrawing Kusanagi, preparing to leave.

"Suigetsu, Hanabi. Up front." He said. "Ueda, Jin, Kushimura, bring up the rear. Don't let it near you, or you're dead. The rest of you, in the center."

And like a switch had been flipped, the panic died down and what was left of the LSF immediately fell into the respective places. There was no one else coming down the river. As Sakura stood, she stumbled, barely managing to get up. She was so out of shape. She had seen something the night before, and _my fault, my fault, I should have said something –_

Sasuke's hand was on her arm, holding her steady. As she swayed beside him he blindly fumbled for her satchel and grabbed one of the packets of s-boosters he'd given her, shoving a couple of pills roughly into her hand.

"Take it." He hissed. "Take them **all**."

For once, Sakura didn't feel like arguing with him. She swallowed the pills. The LSF kept running.

* * *

><p>They ran towards Kusa.<p>

After dipping slightly inside Ame's borders, they veered back towards Grass, traveling at full tilt along the border region between the two nations. Not once did a foreign nin try to stop them. The entire situation was wrong.

They couldn't go back. Whatever had attacked them was still there, spreading out along Konoha's far western border in a chakra-choking blanket. The plan – what Sakura could make of it from the direction they were traveling in – was to do a deep loop over it, moving through Kusa and up into Iwa, before swinging back around in a wide arc.

They had been running for half an hour before Sasuke set loose his raptor Matsuba, whispering a quick message to her before the giant bird shrieked and set off, flying high to avoid detection. Sakura didn't know what had attacked them, or what _it_ was, but she desperately hoped the bird would get through. Her thoughts were in tangles, flickering violently between her own personal brand of terror to heart-stopping concern for the rest of the squad.

Konoha was also extremely vulnerable.

Naruto. Naruto was there, and Ino and Hinata. Her village was her village, and as much as Sakura had wanted to escape it for a time, she was terrified of what would happen to the people in it. She didn't want them to die. She had so few people left.

_Tsunade, Kakashi, tell me what to do. _There was no answer.

They ran and they ran, but they were slow and tired easily without their chakra, and even after it began to return, about an hour away from the disaster zone, they still were far from their best. Their chakra returned in increments, stilted and damaged, and it returned to those with the biggest reserves first. Sasuke, who had never lost his entirely, retrieved his, followed by Aya, Suigetsu, and Hanabi, then all the others. Sakura's chakra returned to her as well, but it was too little, too late. She was dead tired, her heart pounding and equilibrium spinning, and the only thing keeping her upright was the pills that Sasuke had given her. She supposed she should have been thankful for that.

Sasuke ran ahead of the group, low to the ground and seemingly possessed. His lips were twisted into a grimace, his eyes still spinning and bleeding. Sakura was sure the only way he was able to navigate was with the sharingan, and she didn't have to interact with him to know that he was furious and panicked. When Sasuke was both, he lashed out.

It was a given for him, and Sakura could feel it, in the way his chakra roiled every which way, how his movements were jerky and his breathing was harsh. It was suffocating being around him, and his distress did nothing to calm down the rest of the squad. The only ones who seemed to be used to it were Suigetsu and Juugo, but they were both injured and their strength was failing. So was Sakura's. She knew she'd need it, but no matter how desperately she wished for it to return, she couldn't seem to summon her reserves. Away from the battle her panic was all the more deadly, driven by a compulsive need to be useful and keep the others alive. She could do this. She would.

They did stop eventually, and only then because they couldn't run anymore without several of them in danger of bleeding out. They crossed a large plane of grass with the hasty, fugitive movements of people fearing for their lives; low to the ground and slightly frantic. Up ahead was a mushroom forest, one of the many such areas that dotted Kusa. It reminded Sakura so much of her childhood it brought a pang of nostalgia to her chest. The bittersweet feeling that swept over her was entirely inappropriate for the moment, and almost immediately quashed.

Juugo was looking queasy, clutching at his stump and far too pallid. As they reached the forest, he stumbled and fell. Sakura was in no shape to carry him, but she tried.

"Come on, Juugo." She said breathily, stumbling to a halt beside him and trying to lift him up. He was a giant next to her, and without the added strength of her chakra Sakura felt particularly frail. "Come on, Juugo-kun." She gasped, biting back tears. "You can make it. You can."

"It didn't hurt, when it took my arm." He mumbled, eyes glazed from the blood loss. "It was there, and then it wasn't."

"It's the shock." She assured him, bracing her feet in the dirt as she tried to help him up. "It's normal. It's normal. You'll be alright."

Then Sasuke was there, clumsily taking Juugo from her grasp and hoisting the larger nin's arm over his shoulder as he dragged him towards the trees. He didn't look at her directly, but Sakura could see his expression was grim, and up close she could make out raw, oozing lacerations along his own forearms and chest, as if someone had taken a serrated knife to his skin and **dragged**.

Sasuke pulled the former Taka member past the treeline, and what was left of the LSF followed, skittering amongst the mulch and branches. They set up a quick, impromptu camp inside a natural cave, hollowed out of the space beneath the roots of a giant tuber. There were only two exits, so they were in danger of getting trapped, and the hollow was barely big enough to fit six of them at a time, but they managed. Sakura went inside with the rest of the injured.

There was no fire, and no cooking of food; just blood and fear as they downed some more soldier pills and gripped their kunais a little too tightly. One of the twins, Sora, made the seals to form an illusion around the entire camp, but Sasuke stopped him, and told what was left of the platoon to suppress their chakras instead. Immediately a rotating guard duty was established, and the nins went about their individual tasks, each sporting expressions of despair. Sakura began the duty of triage.

Hands shaking, she downed another pill to try and boost her chakra, hoping the shaky thread that coursed through her limbs would get her through most of the patients. She started working on Juugo first. There wasn't that much she could do for him. His arm had been severed at the shoulder, and the limb was missing. It was a miracle he hadn't bled to death, but his career as a ninja was over, _if_ and _when_ they got back.

He sat in front of her, back hunched and face drawn, his bright orange hair turning stiff with dried blood and hanging across his forehead. The green glow surrounding Sakura's fingers was pitifully weak.

"You can't grow it back, can you, Sakura-san?" He asked. Sakura tried to give him a watery smile of sympathy, but failed miserably. Instead, she bit her lip to hold back to sobs and shook her head. _Poor Juugo._

"No, I'm sorry."

Juugo nodded sluggishly. He looked down at his last remaining hand, eyes glazed as he spoke.

"It's alright." He slurred. "I don't think I want to be a ninja anymore."

Not far off, Aya – whose leg was ripped along the thigh – cursed and spat blood for the umpteenth time, shoving the butt of her gunbai into the dirt as she hastily pulled her long hair away from her face. Sasuke was standing just outside the entrance to the hollow, feet braced for balance and expression slack as he stared at nothing. His cheeks were tracked with red, and Sakura knew he couldn't see.

_My eyes._ He'd babbled that night in the tent, when Sakura wasn't quite past caring. _My eyes, who took them, I can't see –_

"We've lost too many." Aya declared, hands on her hips. "The platoon's unbalanced."

"Unbalanced?" Suigetsu said shrilly, voice rising with hysteria. "Unbalanced? The flanks are fucking **gone**."

Their defensive flanks were gone, Sakura realized with horror, as she cauterized Juugo's stump and listened with one ear. Except for the Hyuga sitting beside Hanabi, not a single one had survived. The only defensive nins left were Susumu and Sakura herself. It was an absolute disaster for Konoha. They'd probably lost several bloodlines in the space of an hour.

Sasuke closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, running a shaking hand across his forehead as if to dispel a headache. He was uncharacteristically trembling.

"There's more than one out there." Aya continued, rounding on him with her hands still on her hips. She was getting angrier and angrier, but no one could blame her. She was just saying what they were all thinking. "It's going to cut us off –"

"**Aya**." Sasuke ground out, his hand still against his forehead. The shaking had gotten worse, and Sakura knew that he was about to drop. If they were attacked again, he was one of the few that could possibly put up a fight, and as a medic she couldn't risk him going under. Sakura tried to fix Juugo faster.

"Do a head count." Sasuke mumbled. "See who made it. I'll reorder the squads."

Aya looked furious, hands clenched and lips pursed together in a thin, angry line, but she still followed her orders. Yanking her gunbai out of the ground, she left the hollow. Sakura finished cauterizing Juugo's shoulder and tying the blood vessels with chakra, hastily reaching into one of her packs and removing a roll of bandages.

"Shirt off." She murmured, and Juugo blinked a few times before attempting to comply. Sakura ended up helping him. As soon as she'd finished bandaging the stump, Sakura stood and moved towards Sasuke, squashing her fear as she approached him.

"Sit down." She said, reaching up to tug on his shirt and pull him inside. "Let me take a look."

He wasn't listening to her, his eyes still closed, a trembling hand pressed against his forehead. His feet were braced wide to keep himself from toppling over, and Sakura suspected he was going into shock. She knew why.

_It's the corpses. _She though._ The massacre._

"Come on." She said, a bit more gently. She put one hand to his elbow and the other to his back as she steered him towards the cave. "Let me fix your eyes."

All it took was a soft nudge to get Sasuke to acquiesce, and then he was following her lead, going boneless when they reached their destination as he sunk heavily to the floor. His back was against the wall of the cavern, his knees bent; arms resting atop them and as he bowed his head.

Sakura went about her task in a methodical manner, ignoring her own lagging strength and the fact that being near him would normally send her into a panic attack. She worked on his still-bleeding lacerations first, and felt pity when she saw the gashes. The skin and muscle beneath were torn up and torn open, like they had gone through a combine. Once the skin began to stitch itself back together, Sakura shifted aside his ruined shirt to place her hand against his bare chest to heal him faster.

"Anywhere else, besides your eyes?" She asked.

"My back." He said hoarsely, his deep voice reduced to a croak. Sakura scooted forward to sit between his legs, putting a hand to his shoulder.

"Lean forward." She said softly. He did, his eyes cracking open into lazy slits as he let his head fall with a _thump_ against her shoulder. Sakura let him, leaning over his own shoulder and peeling aside his shirt to get a better look at his back.

There was a puncture wound along the top, just beneath one of his shoulder blades. The wound was bleeding sluggishly, but it hadn't gone clean through, nor perforated any major organs. Sakura was thankful for that.

She slid her hand beneath the collar of his shirt, palm flat as it moved across his feverish skin until she got to the wound. When she began to heal it, he leaned further into her. From the other side of the hollow, Sakura could hear the two Hyugas talking to one another in hushed, horrified tones; Suigetsu occasionally muttering to himself as he sharpened his sword with frenetic determination.

"Were you hurt?" Sasuke asked, his breath ghosting across her collarbone.

"No." Sakura said, her hand pressing down over the new skin of the now-healing wound. "Just my arms, from Susumu."

There was another lengthy pause, his head lolling against her shoulder, his cheek pressed against her skin. The tip of his nose brushed along the side of her neck as his thick hair tickled the curve of her jaw. Distantly, Sakura realized his fingers were kneading at the edge of her shirt in repetition, clutching it in reassurance. _That's not your place, _she wanted to say to him, but Sasuke was tired and in pain. Sakura knew he was going to take the loss of his platoon hard. He was paranoid to the extreme about losing anything.

"Did you see it?" He asked her. Sakura shook her head against his, her palm sliding up to press against his back between his shoulder blades as she tried to ease some of the tension there.

"No. We ran."

He nodded sluggishly in response, and Sakura pulled back. Sasuke acquiesced, but didn't let go of her shirt, slouching forward as he let his cheek nestle itself in her hand while she braced his head for support. Sakura's other hand remained upright, ready to fix his eyes. She couldn't heal both at the moment – she didn't have enough chakra – but one was better than nothing.

"Which one first?" She asked softly, so tired she wanted to cry.

"Rinnegan." He slurred against her hand, and Sakura used the other to carefully cover his left eye, letting the green wrap itself around her fingers as she fixed his nerves as best she could. He watched her with the sharingan, all red and black beneath the slit of his eyelid, dried blood crusting his eyelashes and flaking against his cheek.

"If you see it." He said slowly. "Just run."

"Was it a tailed beast?" Sakura asked, dreading the answer. She knew it wasn't – there was no way it could be – but she couldn't think of what else to say. Not far off, Suigetsu let out a harsh, bitter laugh, the sound full of hysteria. His sharp teeth bit into his bottom lip in between gasps, his pale hands running through his ratty hair.

"No." He said. "No, it was way worse. Fuck, we're done for. **Shit**."

The cold reality sunk in, then. Decimation had a way of numbing the senses, and Sakura looked at her hands on Sasuke's face, marvelling how they could still work when her fingers felt dead from the shock. Sasuke looked back.

"I can't see." He admitted. Sakura felt the crushing weight of history bearing down on them. He sounded like he had that night in the tent: miserable, vicious, and lonely. She covered his eye with her hand.

"Shh, Sasuke." Sakura said, still in a trance. He gripped her shirt just a little bit harder. "Let me fix it."

All she could think about was the corpses.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

So. That was A Thing that happened. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed – and apparently this fic has been mentioned on tumblr too? A huge thank you to the tumblr folks as well! Over a hundred follows now, for three chapters. I'm honestly blown away by how much feedback I've gotten, and I'm extremely humbled by the experience. I've tried to answer everyone's reviews, but if I've missed anyone, I apologize.

For those of you who I can't PM:

_Alicera: _I'm glad you like my writing. It means a lot to me that people enjoy it. _Guest: _Thanks! _(Other) Guest: _I'm glad you like the story so much! Although – for your own peace of mind – I should let you know that this story will be roughly updated on a biweekly basis (this week not withstanding). Unfortunately I can't update any quicker than that. _GildeWhelmed: _Thanks! And yes, I plan to continue the awesomeness. Hopefully people will still enjoy it as things progress. _Yayyayayaya: _Thanks! I'm glad my interpretation of Sasuke works. I was worried about keeping him in character. _Kaya: _I love seeing the progression of fandom as a series progresses! I'm also really excited to see what comes next in terms of fanfiction now that the series is over. I'm glad you enjoy the story, and that you like Susumu! I've been writing OCs for awhile, but its always great to see them work in fanfiction, too.

Also A Thing that happened: Naruto ended. Literally, this stuff has been around since I was in HS. That last chapter, tho. I feel practically evil for writing this, now.


	5. Yearning

Chapter V: Yearning

* * *

><p>Imagine, Suigetsu said, that you are standing on top of a wire, and that wire is as sharp as a blade.<p>

On either side of you there is nothing but air, and beneath you, a hundred foot drop. The wire is uncomfortable because it digs into your toes, but you can bear it. Your shoes are tough and your balance if firm, and at the end of the tightrope is your goal, just a few feet across the chasm.

Suddenly, you go blind. You see nothing, no matter how hard you strain your eyes. Because of this, your other senses heighten. You can feel the wind buffeting against your back, threatening to knock you off. The wire digs into your toes, painfully sharp as the rope bows and tightens. Frantically, you try to balance, but you're unable to see or move. And as you hang there in the empty air, waiting for one wrong shuffle to signal your downfall, you can feel the drop in your stomach; the looming emptiness beneath you, ready to swallow you whole.

The hairs on the back of your arms straighten. A shiver runs down your spine, and a sick feeling crawls through your gut. You're struck with the sudden urge to vomit.

That, Suigetsu said, was what it was like stepping into the chakra void. There was no energy – your ability to create it abruptly cut off – but you could feel everything so much more clearly because of it. And still, you were paralyzed.

Shinobi fell in mid air, careening across the ground to snap necks and break bones with the force of their own momentum. The ones with less chakra went down immediately. The stronger ones, like Sasuke, got sick. There was a moaning up ahead of them, as something massive moved in the mists; the shuffle of wet flesh, like raw meat being slapped across a chopping board.

Then, the screaming started. The screaming was everywhere, and nins were losing control of their bloodlines and releasing jutsus left and right. The world became light and noise, like standing at the heart of an explosion.

Sakura listened to Suigetsu recount the attack with a hysterical sort of canter. As she listened, her hand pressed to his back while she fixed his wounds, she felt sick. She was sick in a way that she had never felt before – the sickness of _finality _– because there was an inexplicable, overwhelming feeling growing inside her. The surety that everything would end.

_I'm going to die. _The knowledge was lodged at the back of her throat, but for some reason she couldn't voice it. She'd never been so sure of anything in her entire life.

"We're fucked, Pinky." Suigetsu chanted, hunching in on himself and teeth chattering as she repaired his back. "We're so fucked. Damn, I miss Madara. Give me the goddamn Ten-Tails instead of this shit."

Across from them, Sasuke sat with his back braced against the cavern wall, knees bent and one bloody hand covering his eyes. _No luck, _Sakura thought miserably, and she felt pity for him then. He never had any luck, and she didn't seem to have any either. Maybe they were cursed.

"I don't want to die." Suigetsu said to no one in particular, but he glared in Sasuke's direction. "I don't want to die like that. Not like **them**."

"Hey now, Suigetsu. It's okay." Sakura soothed, putting a hand to the side of his head as she patted his hair in an effort to calm him. He let out a shuddering breath. "You won't. I'll make sure of it."

She wouldn't let him die. Sakura promised.

* * *

><p>Sakura had barely managed to finish patching up the most serious of wounds before she was curling up on the ground and falling asleep; sans blanket and missing her jacket, as she huddled inwards for warmth and tried to make herself as small as possible. Normally she wouldn't have been able to do so – she hadn't done her ritual yet, and Sasuke was nearby – but she was so drained of strength and chakra that when she laid down, her mind blanked immediately.<p>

No one woke her for her shift to watch the perimeter, and the only reason she did wake up, hours later, was because one of Sasuke's snakes was slowly slithering its way up her back to curl itself around her shoulder. Sasuke was keeping watch outside, she knew, but Sakura was worn out and mentally exhausted, and she didn't have time to deal with his peculiarities. She also **hated** his snakes.

"Sasuke." She mumbled, as his serpent looped itself across her. "If you want to talk, just talk. But stop sending the snakes. I'll kill them."

The snake stopped moving, but didn't remove itself from her arm. It was small – no more than a foot long – and Sakura was tired, so she ignored it. She closed her eyes for a bit, absorbing the texture of the dirt beneath her cheek as she let her body sink into the earth. She didn't hear Sasuke approach, but she _felt_ him anyways. His suffocating, concentrated chakra got denser when he was trying to mask it, just like Madara's. The two of them were so alike it was unnerving.

Slowly, Sakura opened her eyes, and was greeted with the sight of Sasuke's sandal-clad feet. He was squatting low beside her head, his arms slung over his knees and slender fingers slack. The Uchiha's head was tilted down and to the side as he eyed her, his inky hair shadowing one side of his face. _Definitely Madara, then._ From this angle, they could have passed as twins. Sakura didn't like the way her ex-teammate had aged over the years, and morbidly, she wished he'd taken after Itachi in the looks department.

"Are you going to use the mangekyō on me?" She asked, lazily taking note of the red beginning to peek through in his right eye. She wouldn't have put it past him – even now, years later.

Sasuke's response was simple, his voice hoarse as his words rumbled through his chest. He sounded tired.

"No."

"You know," Sakura began conversationally, not really caring what she said. She was going to die, anyways. The others just didn't know it yet. "I dreamt about it for years. Every night, you stabbed me. Over and over again. I can't stand the sound of the birds."

He didn't respond to that, because there wasn't much to say. Sasuke was quiet for a time, because even though it was obvious he wanted to talk, getting him to speak was like wringing blood from a stone. Sakura waited patiently, like she always had. As was **expected** of her.

"I didn't mean to kill your parents."

She closed her eyes to try and hide the tears, but she just had too many to shed, so Sakura let them fall. She was so tired she couldn't even find it in her to be mad at him, anymore.

"You didn't mean to do a lot of things, Sasuke, but you still did them. There are some things you can't take back."

He didn't say anything, and for a moment Sakura could almost convince herself that he'd gone. The only reason she knew that he hadn't was because she still felt his suffocating chakra presence beside her, tentatively reaching outwards to blanket her in its heat. Eventually, something warm touched her hand; slim, calloused fingers, sliding beneath hers to curl under the digits and lift them carefully off the ground. It was the most tenuous of embraces, and it made Sakura incredibly sad. She was tired. So very, very tired. She didn't want to deal with him anymore, and she couldn't take any more heartache. Sasuke was rife with it.

"This is the wrong time for this." She warned, soft and devoid of energy. Sasuke didn't let go, and Sakura cracked her eye open to see him hunched over even further, rocking back and forth a bit on his heels. The first two fingers on his right hand were loosely grasping hers, his other hand running repetitively across his mouth. He wasn't looking at her.

"Naruto… Naruto says family is important." He said. It was like talking to a child who didn't understand the most basic of concepts.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun." Sakura mumbled, and the tears came harder then. "I'm not your family, and you know it."

His fingers tightened around hers, even while he continued to avoid her gaze.

"Aren't you?" He muttered from behind his other hand, and Sakura wished she had the energy to scream her frustration. She knew he was taking the loss of his team hard. Sasuke had a tendency to latch on to familiar things when he was distressed, but she didn't want to be his security blanket. She wanted to be **Sakura**.

"I never have been." She said. "And you've never cared."

Sasuke wrapped his hand all the way around hers, then, compulsively squeezing, and the fact that he was rocking back and forth became more noticeable. His eyebrows were furrowed deep. Sakura knew what he was thinking – what he was planning on asking – and immediately cut the idea off.

"You don't hurt your family, Sasuke." She told him sternly. He needed to understand this, and the fact that eight years later he was still struggling with the most basic of concepts was downright tragic.

"Itachi did." Was his response. It always came back to Itachi. Sasuke loved his older brother to death, even now, and if Naruto hadn't stopped him from trying to kill himself, he would have followed him to it, too. The first few years after the war had been rough. Sakura vividly remembered that particular fallout.

Her response was blunt, but not unkind.

"Yes, but you're not Itachi, are you, Sasuke? You're you."

He didn't say anything, and Sakura sighed and closed her eyes, letting her hand go limp in his. She found herself wishing that Naruto was there to take care of him. He was so much better at the Sasuke Pep-Talks.

"I know… I know its hard losing your team." She began. "And I know you loved them, but you'll get through this." She knew **she** wouldn't, but she didn't tell him that.

"You loved me, too." He blurted out. "You said forever." The words burned, even now, and Sakura regretted them.

"I did." She agreed miserably. "But that was a long time ago, and I was stupid."

Sasuke didn't let go of her. Sakura heard him fumbling around in her discarded satchel with his free one, before he unfurled her fingers and pushed another s-booster into her hand.

"Take it." He said, trying to make her hold it. Sakura didn't.

"Sasuke, I can't keep taking these. They're too hard on my system, and the others might need them more."

"Take it." He insisted. His voice had a trembling edge to it. "You're not supposed to get sick. You're the medic."

Sakura let out a reedy laugh, her fingers finally tightening against his. Sasuke responded in kind, and Sakura felt his chakra surge without him meaning to, enveloping her completely in its suffocating warmth.

"Medic." She chuckled humorlessly. "That's right. I'm the medic." She wasn't Sakura. She wasn't even Tsunade's legendary apprentice, or the Head of Konoha's hospital. Here, she was just Team Seven's backup, the dead weight to Sasuke's brilliance and Naruto's perseverance. A remnant of their unfortunate past. She and Sasuke were having their first real conversation in years, and Sakura had never felt more alone. She couldn't bear to talk.

"You should go outside." She mumbled through her tears. "See to the others."

Sakura could tell that he didn't want to. She could feel it in the way his chakra became even more insistent, clinging to her like glue and coating everything in the cave. Sasuke's hand was dry from the fire and callused from sword work, the texture rough and aggravating. Sakura withdrew her hand from his, and he let her, although he didn't move from his crouched position beside her head. She curled up even further, closing her eyes.

"It's been a long day." She whispered. "I need to rest before we leave."

Sasuke said nothing, but a few minutes later, Sakura heard him depart. Without giving the Uchiha another thought, she slept.

* * *

><p>The final headcount for the surviving LSF was fifteen, not including Sakura. All of them were offensive nins that had been at the head of the vanguard, except for Suigetsu, Susumu, Hanabi, and her cousin Hotaka – the only other Hyuga.<p>

Once Sakura woke up and finished her rounds, the LSF she didn't know by name were quickly introduced. There was Jin, who specialized in frost jutsus and sported a perpetual body temperature that was basically zero. Also among the survivors was Yamamori, who looked disturbingly like **Haku**, of all people, along with his older cousins Ai and Etsuko. There was Michi, who had fled the destruction of Sound along with Team Taka, and Kushimura, who was actually an Iwa defector.

The twins Sora and Shun, Sakura learned, were from the Otogakure region as well, and had a talent for manipulating sound in the most awful of ways. They were very young, barely fifteen years old but already long-time jounins, and Sakura's chest clenched with anxiety upon learning their age. It spasmed even further when the twins revealed themselves to be unfailingly polite and affectionate.

"It is good that Uchiha-san's teammate is with us, now." Said Sora, although Sakura had a hard time telling them apart. They were both brown-haired and brown-eyed and dressed in navy blue, their features fine and androgynous. Strange speckled patterns – like a leopard's spots – ran down either side of their necks and along their arms.

"Probably." Sakura mumbled, not believing them in the slightest.

"Definitely." Said Shun, as he leaned docilely into her hands while she fixed a deep gash that ran the length of his cheek. "Uchiha-san is the best, and his teammates are the best, also. Uchiha-san says so."

Sakura felt dread pool in her belly as she looked at the twins, and her mouth went dry. They were young. So very, very young. Oh gods, they were practically babies who idolized Sasuke and thought everything would turn out all right. She was struck with the overwhelming maternal urge to pack them up – to keep them safe and hidden from harm – but then had to remind herself that they were nins. Elite, dangerous nins, who fought and killed for Sasuke on a regular basis.

"Uchiha-san and I have not been teammates for a very long time." She reminded them gently. Shun blinked and cocked his head between her hands, her green chakra crawling across the rounded, baby-ish tip of his nose.

"Uchiha-san does not care about that." He declared. Then, out of nowhere "You should not talk to Susu-kun so much."

Sakura blinked at the sudden change in topic.

"Why? Do you not like Susumu?" She queried. Sora and Shun shook their heads in the negative at the same time, and Shun smiled against her hands.

"No, we like him a lot. Susu-kun is very kind. But he did not listen to Uchiha-san when he should have."

Sakura didn't respond to their warning, nor did she heed it, although she did wonder where it was coming from. She couldn't see Susumu getting into a conflict with Sasuke over anything, really. The blond-haired nin respected him too much.

Once she was done patching up the twins, Sakura went to find Susumu.

He was sitting by himself on the edge of their small encampment, crouched beneath a giant mushroom and staring out across the field towards the direction from which they'd arrived. His back was tense, his thin shoulders straining against his white haori. Out of all the LSF, he had escaped with the least amount of damage. When Sakura rounded his side so she could see him better, she spied some bruising across his face, the purpling skin making the yellow of his eyes all the more vivid, but that was it. Still, Sakura wanted to check on him before they left.

Silently, she crouched beside the blond-haired nin. Susumu looked towards her, his expression wary and uncharacteristically grim. He began to hide his hands inside his sleeves, his slender fingers curling beneath the hems to obscure his bright red claws. Sakura didn't miss the action, but pretended she did. Hoping it would make him feel more at ease, she turned to look at what he'd been staring towards: the burning, smoke-clogged horizon, beyond the fields and giant mushrooms that served as trees. The sky was darkening with what looked like thunderclouds, but beneath that was a black smudge slowly spreading along the horizon, and it was huge. Every now and then there was a flicker of orange – the swelling of flames licking upwards – followed by a faint, horribly familiar shriek. Whatever had attacked them was still out there, although it didn't seem to be following at the moment. They were all waiting on a hairsbreadth for it to make up its mind to do so.

"Anything?" Sakura said, deciding to keep her speech to a minimum. Talking was exhausting, even with someone like him. Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Susumu shake his head. He didn't say anything either. Sakura turned to him, taking in his unusually subdued manner, how his white-blond hair falling in soft waves over his eyes.

"Were you hurt?" Sakura asked. There was another inhuman scream along the horizon, and the two of them tensed, looking towards the burning thunderclouds. When nothing happened, Susumu shook his head again, but Sakura didn't miss the way he slightly leaned away from her. She narrowed her eyes and reached out.

"Let me check anyways." She insisted. He acquiesced, although he didn't seem happy about it.

Susumu sat very still as Sakura put her hands on his face. Like his own hands, the skin across his cheeks was very smooth, the tufts of his hair that brushed along the tops of her hands unbelievably soft. His red facial markings were stark against the paleness of his skin, but although they made his features more severe-looking, he seemed especially young in the low mid-morning light. Or maybe Sakura was just getting old. She wanted to ask him about his bloodline – about the acid that had burnt away several layers of her skin – but got the impression that he wouldn't appreciate it, so she didn't.

"How old are you?" She said instead. Susumu met her eyes, his six pupils shrinking to two in golden irises.

"Twenty-three." He said softly.

He didn't look it, Sakura thought somewhat jealously, but said nothing other than a slight "huh."

"Why…" He began, and Sakura glanced at him, waiting patiently for the other nin to finish his train of thought. There was a single, deep blink of red-tattooed eyelids and pale eyelashes, before he slowly opened his eyes again. Sakura cupped his cheek more firmly to finish healing the bruising.

"Why did you jump in?" He finally asked. He was pointedly not looking at her arms and still hiding his own hands. Sakura found it hard to smile, but she managed a small one that cracked her face, just for him.

"You have a sister." She said simply.

Susumu stared at her blankly for a moment, blinking owlishly as if he didn't quite know what to make of her statement. Then, he smiled in return. It started slow, nothing but a twitch on the right side of his mouth, but it grew wider and wider, his lips parting to reveal his teeth. His eyelids crinkled at the corners with the force of it. Sakura recognized the emotion that she saw in his watery, too-intense gaze. Relief and overwhelming gratitude, mixed with adoration.

"I have a sister." He repeated, his voice cracking as he choked up. His sharp-nailed hand quickly emerged from his sleeve to cover the one she held against his face, coveting and full of gentleness. Sakura nodded, and pretended she didn't see how shiny his eyes were; how he looked as if he was on the verge of crying.

"Yeah." She agreed.

Susumu squeezed her hand and sniffled slightly, as if to clear his nose. He reached up with his other hand to rub the back of his palm beneath it. "Thank you." He said, then, more firmly "**Thank you**."

Sakura gave his cheek a light, friendly pat as she finished but didn't say anything, smoothly withdrawing her hand. Susumu was so nice. She really liked him.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked as she withdrew, and Sakura shrugged.

"Nothing I couldn't fix."

His hand snaked out, then, clawed fingers curling around hers as he stopped her from retreating further. He looked down at their joined hands, then nodded absently, his pale hair fluffing around his head like a halo. Sakura looked down at their hands as well.

"Good." Said Susumu, somewhat stiltedly. "Good. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Sakura said in a hushed tone, squeezing her fingers around his. "It wasn't your fault, Susumu."

Susumu squeezed back, and Sakura felt her insides flutter as he did so. It was like she was floating. He was nice, **so** nice, and he felt like her first real friend in years.

"Ayano would like you." Susumu said, his thumb running back and forth across the top of her palm. "A lot."

"When we get back to Konoha, I'll visit her." Sakura promised, and the unspoken _if_ hung between them, but they both ignored it. Susumu met her eyes and smiled again, soft and understated but so full of hope. He was an odd looking nin, with his stark red tattoos and lamb-like hair and mostly-missing eyebrows, but Sakura sort of adored him in that moment.

"Yes." Susumu said. "She would like that. Thank you."

Sakura managed to crack another smile. There was an unspoken rule between the two of them where they pretended that everything was normal – that they hadn't just lost most of the LSF and were still being hunted – and Sakura felt wonderful because of it. Not good, but better than she had in a long time. She needed this. She needed the delusion, and Susumu seemed willing to provide it.

"So you're a bone-eater, huh?" She whispered, almost conspiratorially, and Susumu grinned self-deprecatingly and nodded.

"Yes."

"Eats through everything, does it?"

"Yes."

"That's good." Sakura said, and Susumu looked at her with confusion. She took pains to clarify. "It means your sister's really safe. She has it too, right? No one will get to her."

His reaction was visible and almost instant. Susumu looked so bowled over by her words he swayed a bit, and then he was grasping her hand with fervid desperation, his voice cracking as he blurted his next words out in a rush.

"I like you, Sakura-san."

Sakura felt like she'd been hit by Sasuke's chidori.

Her mind blanked for a bit, and then it didn't, but before she could respond there was the crunch of sandals across mulch-covered ground, and Aya was striding towards them. Her black clothes were torn, her even blacker hair pulled into a hasty ponytail and her gunbai strapped to her back. She looked very Uchiha in that moment, but Sakura knew she wasn't.

"Haruno, Ueda, time to leave." She said, then added to Sakura "Uchiha wants to talk to you. He's with Hozuki, about twenty yards back."

Immediately Sakura and Susumu were pulling apart and falling into their respective places, although Susumu's hand dragged across hers a bit longer than was necessary. Aya didn't miss it. She zeroed in on the action like one of Sasuke's hawks eying its prey, her black eyes turning hard and angry. Her voice was clipped as she spoke.

"Ueda." She snapped as Susumu gracefully rose to his feet. "You know better. Keep your hands to yourself."

Susumu stayed silent, but his expression shuttered, going so utterly blank that Sakura was almost disturbed by it. She got angry, then. Nothing had happened between them, and even if it had, it wasn't Aya's place to comment. Nor was it the time to be having this kind of conversation. It was probably the **worst**.

"He wasn't doing anything." Sakura said, subconsciously stepping between Susumu and the dark-haired kunoichi. She felt the irrational need to defend him, especially since Susumu seemed to be unwilling to defend himself in the face of such inappropriate allegations. Aya turned her angry gaze on her.

"Uchiha thinks otherwise." She said. Before Sakura could respond, the kunoichi was turning around in a swirl of long black hair and stalking away. Without missing a beat, Susumu slunk after her like a shadow, utterly obedient and totally silent. He didn't look at her as he passed, and Sakura was left alone.

It was the LSF. It had always been the LSF, and no matter how nice he was Susumu was loyal to Sasuke first. Sakura knew this, and she didn't blame him for it in the slightest, but the acknowledgement of the fact still hurt. She resolved to forget what he had just said; knew there would be no time to analyze it or come to terms with her own emotions. That brief window of fantasy where she'd forgotten the outside world was now over. She had to focus on getting the others back to Konoha, to seeing them through, even if she couldn't do it for herself.

Shakily, Sakura picked up her satchel and walked in the direction that Aya had said Sasuke would be. She didn't want to interact with him any more than was necessary, but the ongoing disintegration of their mission had a way of dulling her senses to him. She could sink into medic mode and put up the shields, as she had a legitimate excuse to talk with him on a purely professional level. Their conversation from the night before didn't matter. Sasuke may not have wanted her as the platoon's medic, but he wasn't stupid when it came to tactics. Sakura could count on him to mellow out and put his personal concerns aside while the rest of his squad was in danger. And they were in danger. Terrible danger. There was a real risk of them not being able to make it back to Konoha.

_Just a bandage_, she reminded herself. _Rip it off. It will be over soon._

Her steps were hushed as she walked across the forest floor, keeping her center of gravity low and her chakra mostly hidden. She was low on energy, and when Sakura tried to remember the last time she'd eaten, she couldn't. Her arms were itching again. Absently, she scratched at them to relieve the sensation, then popped a solider pill before she kept going.

There was a quiet, tense atmosphere throughout the entire area, the early morning sky shadowed with gray. Under the canopy of the mushroom forest, where the light level was already low, the undergrowth between the tuberous stalks was cast into a perpetual gloom. Every now and then there was a whale-like call, echoing faintly from Konoha's borders. Above the overpowering smell of mulch and dirt there was now the scent of bushfire, wafting eerily on the air.

No one in the LSF talked louder than a whisper, as if believing the slightest amount of sound would send the unnamed creature after them. Sakura felt her heart rate increased as a result.

_It's odd, that no Kusa nins have spotted us, _she thought, then almost instantly a horrific notion occurred. Sakura immediately pushed it aside and refused to examine it. It couldn't be that bad. It **couldn't**.

As she was walking past a particularly large mushroom, she spied Hanabi and her cousin. Sakura made an immediate detour towards them. She and Hanabi had only talked briefly since they'd made camp, when Sakura had checked her for injuries and repaired what she could before moving on to help the others. The young woman was pale, subdued and slightly shaking as she feverishly sharpened a kunai. Her cousin Hotaka wasn't doing any better.

Hanabi didn't even look up as Sakura approached.

"Hey." Sakura said, and Hanabi **did** look up then, but quickly lowered her gaze and returned to sharpening her blade. She was worryingly withdrawn, and Sakura knew not all was right.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Hanabi's lips pulled into a thin, trembling line, her eyes taking on a watery sheen as her hands dragged the whetstone down her kunai.

"It took my bloodline." She finally said, and Sakura knew what was bothering her. Hanabi had never, ever been weak.

"I know." She said softly. The trembling in Hanabi's hands and the watery sheen to her eyes got worse. Sakura crouched down all the way and began rummaging around in her pack, finding a bottle of pills that she had ironically packed for the villagers. Civilians living along the border regions tended to suffer from higher levels of stress than those in the interior, on the account of all the skirmishes. She'd never thought she'd have to use them here.

"Here." Sakura said, uncorking the top and shaking a couple pills into her palm. She held them out to Hanabi. "I don't have an endless supply, but it will help with the nerves."

Wordlessly, Hanabi took a pill and swallowed it without complaint. Sakura offered her cousin Hotaka two of them. His hands were shaking so violently he had a hard time holding them. It was a bad sign for a nin.

_The only surviving member of the flanks, _Sakura thought, and her heart went out to him. She watched as his pale hands struggled to keep hold of the meds, his eyes remaining downcast as his shoulders shook.

"Hotaka, right?" She whispered, and he nodded. The area was beginning to smell overwhelmingly like bushfire, and Sakura wrinkled her nose, rubbing at the bottom of it. "Do you need more time before we move out?" She didn't want to push him.

Hotaka shook his head and didn't look at her, his glossy brown hair matted around his face and pale eyes huge. Sakura had thought that Sasuke would be the first one to snap – he had seemed awful close to it, the night before – but maybe she was wrong. She turned from him and leaned close to Hanabi, her lips to her ear and hand to her shoulder as she whispered to the younger woman. Hanabi reached up and gripped her arm in return, her hold almost desperate.

"Watch your cousin, alright?" Sakura murmured. "I'm worried about him." Hanabi nodded and Sakura leaned back, but still kept her hand on the other woman's shoulder. She seemed to need the physical contact.

"Have you seen Sasuke?" She asked, and Hanabi nodded again.

"He's with Puddle, about ten yards back and to your right."

Sakura nodded, squeezed her shoulder, then left.

Sasuke was standing farther back, as Aya and Hanabi had promised. With him were Suigetsu and Kushimura, along with the twins Sora and Shun, who seemed to be hanging on to his every word. Away from the main crush of the battle, everyone was still tense and wary, but Sakura could see just how deeply the twins idolized Sasuke; how they hovered around him and watched with big puppy-dog eyes, waiting for a stray word of praise or acknowledgement. It made Sakura incredibly bitter.

She knew the plan, at least the basics: swing up through Iwa, then back around like the head of a hammer to cut their way through the Land of Fire and straight towards Konoha. That said, she still didn't know the details. Sakura assumed Sasuke was explaining them now, and the fact that he was talking to Kushimura made sense, as the blond nin was originally from Iwa in the first place. Leaning against a nearby mushroom was Juugo, still horribly pale and mostly unresponsive to the world around him. His face and collar were soaked with sweat, but Sakura could see him shivering from where she stood. She veered off towards him, crouching by his side. Sasuke never looked in their direction.

"Juugo." Sakura said quietly, reaching out to put a hand to his forehead to feel his temperature, then to the side of his neck to feel his pulse. "How are you feeling?"

Juugo looked towards her with a dull gaze, his eyelids lowered.

"I am too slow." He admitted, and the unspoken _to keep up _lingered in the air between them. Sakura knew that particular brand of hopelessness all too well, and she put her hand on Juugo's last remaining arm, squeezing gently in reassurance.

"You'll be fine." She said, then added "I'll travel with you, okay? Just wait a minute for me. I have to talk to Sasuke."

At that moment Kushimura breezed past them, saying nothing as he pulled a gray mask over the lower half of his face and headed deeper into the woods. The twins Sora and Shun used shunshin to dart off, heading in the same direction that Sakura had last seen Aya. Suigetsu was still talking with Sasuke, but his expression was exceptionally grim, his lips pulled back to reveal too-sharp teeth as he spoke. The two of them seemed to be arguing over something. As Sakura approached, she was able to pick up individual words.

"We shouldn't do it." Suigetsu was saying. "It's fucking stupid."

"It's not." Sasuke's voice was hoarse, his words rasping towards the end like he'd been screaming too much.

"It is. It's stupid and I'm not going to die for this shit –"

"Suigetsu."

"We're Taka. Fuckin' **Taka**, not Konoha's bitch –"

"Suigetsu, **enough**."

It was at that moment that Sakura reached them. Suigetsu's lips pulled back even further upon her arrival, and he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned to the side to spit. Sasuke turned towards her. His head was not in a good place. Sakura could tell this just by looking at him, as she'd known Sasuke for over a decade and was well versed in all the signs. He was holding himself together better than Hotaka, but barely, and seemed to be functioning on auto-pilot just a bit. His complexion was pale, and the dark shadows around his eyes made him look like a corpse. One of his hands went to hook itself in the dark red obi tied low around his waist, and as it did Sakura saw that his fingers were shaking.

Suigetsu eyed the Uchiha with blatant concern, which for the former mist-nin meant looking at him like he'd suddenly grown another head. It was rare that Suigetsu was ever worried about Sasuke, but he was now. It meant that things were bad.

Steeling her nerves, Sakura purposely forgot about the history between them. She buried their conversation from the night before, alongside the long-dead memory of her parents. Quickly, she withdrew the bottle of pills she had given Hanabi and Hotaka, along with a packet of pain killers.

"Here." She said, making sure to keep her voice neutral. She shook some into her palm, holding them out for him to take. Sasuke turned his head to look down at her hand, his expression blank. "For the pain." Sakura paused, then added more delicately "For your nerves, too." She knew Sasuke would know what she was talking about, and that there was a good chance he would bristle at the insinuation.

Suigetsu shot her a harried, knowing glance that Sakura studiously ignored, before wisely melting back into the shadows so the two of them were relatively alone. Surprisingly, Sasuke took the pills without complaint, plucking them quickly from her hand and swallowing them methodically, one after another. His expression was shuttered, eyes hooded with lack of sleep and his broad back slightly hunched. Sakura remembered the stories she'd heard after the war. She hadn't taken care of Sasuke directly, but she'd been unable to escape the grapevine of rumors surrounding the cocktail of anti-psychotics he'd been put on; the anti-depressants and sleeping pills he'd taken for years, just to stabilize his mood swings.

"Bastard's a walking pharmaceutical company!" Naruto had joked once, only the joke hadn't been funny and Naruto hadn't smiled, because what he said was true.

"How are your eyes?" Sakura asked. Sasuke swallowed the last pill, speaking around his hand.

"I'll manage."

It was Sasuke-talk for _I'm in agony but I'm too proud to admit it. _Sakura wasn't his babysitter – that was Naruto's job, now – but she was still incredibly well versed in his mannerisms. An entire childhood spent on studying his every move did that to a person. Still in medic mode, she reached up, straining on her tiptoes to place her hand comfortable over his right eye. The sharingan was always the one that bugged him the most.

Sasuke leaned forward, hunching down to make it easier for her to reach. Sakura relaxed her stance in return, falling back on her heels. She wanted to ask him what he and Suigetsu had been arguing over, but didn't. The Uchiha was silent for a moment, and for a while all Sakura could hear was the emptiness of the forest around them, too hushed to be natural. The scent of bushfire had become overwhelming, and every now and then Sakura heard another eerie, melodic call. It sounded slightly closer than it had before, but she couldn't say for sure. Either way, it put her on edge.

"We're cutting straight across Kusa." Sasuke said eventually, and Sakura looked away from her hand to his other eye, but he wasn't looking at her. Sasuke's gaze was lowered, his thick eyelashes sweeping over the brightness of the rinnegan. He still had blood crusted in them towards his tear duct.

"Once we cut across Kusa, Kushimura will rendezvous with some contacts in Iwa to warn their village, while we swing back."

"Is that wise?" Sakura asked. "He's a defector, isn't he?"

Sasuke's hand twitched against his obi, the other remaining limp at his side. "He is, but he knows the terrain better. He'll move quick."

Sakura nodded and said no more. It wasn't ideal, but his reasoning was sound, which was all they could hope for at the moment. Sasuke paused, and Sakura could feel his eyelashes brushing against the inside of her palm as he blinked rapidly, still looking towards the dirt. The shadows around his eyes were as stark as Gaara's had been. He swallowed noticeably, his throat bobbing and his voice hoarse.

"When we go, you'll travel with me this time. At the front."

It sounded innocuous enough – an impersonal request, made by the squad captain – but Sakura knew it wasn't. She sunk even deeper into a medical mindset and refused to focus on his features; how the bits of dried blood clinging to his eyelashes was beginning to bug her. She needed distance, and he was giving her none. Sakura resented him for it, but tried not to let it show.

"I'm better guarding the rear in a defensive position." She said without feeling. "You know this."

Sasuke didn't speak at first, blinking against her hand and seeming to stare at nothing. Several minutes of uncomfortable silence followed.

"It comes at you from the sides." He finally said. His voice was monotonous with a dull sort of horror. "It… it swings around, then cuts off your retreat. That's how we lost the flanks."

His dull horror was contagious, but Sakura had to ask.

"What was it?"

"I don't know." Sasuke admitted. "I didn't get a good look." He paused, then, a little less monotonously, his hand fisting in his obi "It moved slow, and then it didn't. There were… there were these things like tentacles, and they had hooks."

Sakura swallowed hard, and it took everything she had to keep her defenses up. She tried to keep her own voice monotonous as she spoke, but it still shook.

"I have to help Juugo." She admitted. "He's lost too much blood, even with the pills."

Sasuke's response was blunt and childishly uncomplicated. "Then Juugo can travel with us, too."

Sakura sighed and gave in to the perfectionist urge that was driving her mad, reaching up with her other hand to rub the blood out of Sasuke's eyelashes. He flinched under the sudden contact, his narrow nose scrunching up at the tip and eye snapping shut at the sensation, before he settled. Still, he let her get away with it. It was a testament to how tired he was, Sakura supposed.

A cry sounded through the air, much closer than before. Sasuke's hands clenched into fists, one of them immediately going to grip the hilt of Kusanagi. Sakura tried to work quicker, biting her bottom lip as a seed of worry unfurled and spread through her chest like a vine.

"What about Susumu?" She ventured, and suddenly Sasuke's shoulders were tensing too, his blank expression melting away into a frown.

"What about him?" He said. There was a hard edge to his voice.

"You said it came from behind, and Susumu covers the rear. Will he be alright?"

Sasuke's frown turned into an outright sneer, his hand flexing repetitively around his sword hilt.

"He always is. Ueda can take care of himself."

"I know, but –"

"**He can take care of himself**."

Sakura shut her mouth and dropped the subject. Sasuke was visibly angry, jaw clenched and tomoes spinning, glaring at her like she'd just dared to insult the Uchiha name. Sakura was angry too. Her resentment towards him – towards his stifling, passive-aggressive presence – was beginning to build up and fester.

A quiet, uncomfortable moment passed between them, where Sakura tried to work as fast as possible but was failing miserably. He'd broken her concentration beyond repair.

"Are you feeling better?" Sasuke asked abruptly. There was a nasty undercurrent to his voice that Sakura had not heard in some time. She also felt a tugging sensation on her shirt. It took her a moment to realize that Sasuke was once again kneading at the fabric, like the damn thing was some sort security blanket. Sakura fought hard to distance herself from him, at least mentally. To maintain a mask of professionalism.

"I'm fine." Her tone was clipped. If he tried to bring up their previous conversation, Sakura was going to scream. She didn't want to do this with him. She **couldn't**.

"Hanabi says your heart's still arrhythmic." He said. Sakura didn't know why he was bringing this up now, of all times, and didn't care.

"I'm fine." She insisted. He clutched at her shirt harder.

"Naruto says you lie. He says you fake being okay not to worry us –"

"I said I'm **fine**." Sakura snapped, and then all of a sudden they were arguing like the way he used to argue with Naruto, and worse than they had in years.

"Hypocrite." Sasuke spat, and Sakura jerked her hand away from his face as if he'd burned her. His chakra was coming off him in waves, spiking erratically as his killing intent rose like a tsunami. For a second all Sakura could remember was the screech of the birds, and she reeled away in terror. He followed her immediately, crowding into her space and not giving her an inch of breathing room.

"I am not!" Sakura declared, but already Sasuke was on her again, his hand reaching out to grip her elbow, fingers digging into the skin. Suffocating. He was utterly suffocating. Sakura couldn't breathe, and for reasons unknown Sasuke was utterly enraged.

"Always." He ground out in a shaky voice, looming over her. "You always lie, just like Itachi, just like all of them, and he got sick too –"

"I am not lying!" She reached up, trying to remove his hand without chakra, but he was holding on too tight.

"You told me to fix myself. You said I needed to be careful, right before we left! But you tell me to be careful and no one tells **you**, and you just get sicker –"

She shoved his hand away – with chakra, this time – and Sakura saw red. Everything was red, just like when he killed her parents, the same as when she found him kneeling in front of their gravestone for the very first time.

"You have absolutely no right to say that to me." She ground out. "None at all."

"I'm the captain –"

"Well I'm the medic!" She said shrilly, so loudly the others were starting to notice. Sakura didn't care. She was done tiptoeing around him, done trying to hold back the resentment and fear and rage. It was rushing out in a torrent and the stress was fucking killing her, but she wasn't going to be weak, she wasn't going to make mistakes ever again –

"I am this team's only medic, and the head of the hospital. When it comes to others' health, I outrank you."

"Not others health!" He snapped, trying to grab her again, and Sakura dodged and pushed his hand away. "**Yours**!"

"I outrank you!" She repeated, and now everyone was paying attention, slowly emerging from amongst the trees to watch them with widening eyes. Juugo was awake as well. Just behind her left shoulder, Sakura spied a flash of white and red. "I've outranked you for years, Sasuke! You left! You left and you're not getting it back!"

"Naruto says –"

"I don't care what Naruto has to say! Naruto isn't here!"

"Uchiha-san –" Came a horribly familiar voice, and in less than a second Sasuke was whirling on the intruder, sharingan pin wheeling to life and rage making his features twist.

"**Ueda**! Be quiet! If I catch you enabling her again –"

Sakura slapped him. Hard, with chakra. Sasuke went reeling and almost fell to the ground. He'd be lucky if she hadn't broken his jaw. Behind them, Sakura heard Suigetsu swear.

"Goddammit, Susu." He groused. "I told you to keep your mouth **shut**!"

Sakura was done with Sasuke. She was done with the LSF and the cult-like obedience they had to their damaged leader. It took everything she had not to grind Sasuke's face into the dirt.

"You can fix your own fucking eyes." She spat, then turned and stalked away. As she passed, Sakura felt someone reach for her sleeve, their fingers pale and clawed. Sakura slapped Susumu's hand away and shook her head, not looking at him. She couldn't bear to be around anyone anymore. She was choking.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Posting this chapter a lil' bit early, as I'm gonna be completely strapped for time this weekend. This whole thing was basically all interpersonal development. Sorry about that. Usually I like having a mix, but I'm trying to keep the chapters around the same average length. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. As always, its wonderful hearing from you.

For those of you I can't PM:

_Guest: _You will find out what The Thing is, eventually. I like keeping people on their toes. _Justreviewing: _Glad the horror is doing it for you! Horror's actually a really hard genre to nail down. As for romance/adventure vs. horror, I'm aiming for a balance of both! I like my stories containing a good mix of genres, so Monomoth won't be tilted too heavily towards one or the other. _(Second) Guest: _Wow, I must have really nailed Susumu's character if you're already voting for a sususaku pairing (and considering he's an OC, that's some high praise). And you're welcome for the story! I adore my readers, and I love writing for others.

_Kaya: _If it makes you feel better, I don't do fan service, so this story will be mostly devoid of it (I think). I'm not a big believer of fan service unless I think it will benefit the story as a whole. As for Salad's name: wellllll, that's just Sasuke being Sasuke. He's got his favorite things and he's sticking to them (if it ain't broke don't fix it). _Guest (now dubbed Mo): _You have returned! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and that the Sakura and Sasuke moment came off well! Also good to know that Susumu remains interesting to the readers. _Woohoo_: Glad you enjoyed it! And yeah, they were decimated. I have no problem killing off characters. _Guest (who checked ten times in a day)_: Don't hurt yourself, now. I'm thrilled you like the story so much, and I wish I could update on a quicker basis, but alas, I can't.


	6. Into the Woods

Chapter VI: Into the Woods

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><p>The first time Sakura realized Sasuke was visiting her parents' grave was shortly after he tried to kill himself.<p>

He'd been released from the hospital just a few weeks prior, and according to the rumors at the time, the Uchiha had been on house arrest and living with Naruto. Sakura had been staying with Kakashi, as her own mental state – so soon after her parents' death – had not been the greatest. In an effort to get her away from the booze and the constant, sleepless nights of crying herself into a stupor, her former sensei had suggested that visiting their memorial on a frequent basis might bring her some closure. He'd done the same with Obito and Rin, and that had helped.

Sakura had followed his advice, walking to her parents' grave the next afternoon with her heart in her throat and her nerves in tangles. _I'm stronger than this, _she'd thought, as storm clouds had built overhead. _I can get through it. _Only when she'd arrived, Sasuke was already at the memorial. He'd been dressed in hospital scrubs, an ID bracelet still wrapped around his too-thin wrist. The Uchiha hadn't moved from his spot when she'd approached, nor did he flinch when the rain started to come down in torrents. He'd simply sat there, kneeling with his forehead pressed to the dirt, his pale clothes sticking to his even paler skin and his black hair plastered to his temples with rainwater.

And Sakura had felt rage. Blind, encompassing rage, followed by confusion and terror. Because out of all the people she knew, he'd been the last one that she'd ever expected to see there. Sasuke wasn't supposed to be kneeling in front of her parents' grave, looking so alone and frighteningly pitiable; bowing over and over again, with his arms curled close to his chest.

_Poor Sasuke-kun_, the old her would have said, but the new Sakura was far too brittle for that. It had been **her** space and **her** parents, and Sasuke wasn't their son. Sakura hadn't been willing to share.

She'd wanted to hit him, then. She'd wanted to scream and make him hurt. Sakura had wanted to push Sasuke's face into the ground so hard he choked on the mud, but before she could do just that, Kakashi had been there, pulling her into the shadows beneath a tree before she could try something foolish. When she broke into tears, he'd held her as she bawled her eyes out, muffling her sobs against his chest. Sasuke had stayed motionless, huddled before the grave.

"They're my parents." Sakura had sobbed into Kakashi's flak jacket as he's smoothed his hand over her hair. "They-they're mine, why's he –"

"There, there." Kakashi had said in that serious-not-serious way of his, trying to make light of the situation. "Sasuke's just working through some things, alright? He'll be gone soon." This was followed by a muttered "He wasn't supposed to be out today." The comment hadn't been directed at her.

"He killed them." Sakura sniveled, casting a look at her former teammate as she'd clutched desperately at Kakashi's arm. The Uchiha continued kneeling, shivering and senseless to everything beyond the stone in front of him. Kakashi had dropped the happy act, his entire form deflating like a wet gray rag as he'd wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and rested his head atop hers. "He doesn't, he doesn't get to –" Sakura could barely get out the words.

"He's trying." Kakashi had said simply, and he'd sounded so, **so** tired in that moment. "You don't have to forgive him, if you don't want to. It's alright."

Sakura had simply stood there, leaning heavily against him and crying beneath the tree as the rainfall had picked up. The patter of raindrops between the leaves had been deafening, the sky above them rumbling and dark. Sasuke had remained in front of the grave, oblivious to all.

When Naruto finally came to pick him up, the last Uchiha had been soaked to the bone and thoroughly sick.

"OI, TEME!" Naruto had snapped, stalking up to the shivering Sasuke with a furious scowl. Kakashi had quickly masked their chakra signatures upon his arrival, for which Sakura had been grateful. Unfortunately, it had the unintended side effect of forcing her to watch the rest of the scene play out. Naruto hadn't known anyone else was there.

"Think you can give me the slip, do you?" The blond ninja had spat. Sasuke hadn't moved. "Fuck you, you bastard. Do you want Baachan shoving you back in the hospital? Five minutes. You said **five minutes**. We were supposed to be inside ages ago!"

When Sasuke still didn't move, Naruto had slowly come to a halt. He'd stood there for several moments, looking down at the Uchiha with a blank expression. When he spoke again, his words were terribly sad. "Come on, Teme." He'd said with a soft sigh. Naruto had leaned down then, gently prying Sasuke off the muddy ground as he'd slung his arm around his too-thin back. Slowly, he'd helped the catatonic Uchiha to his feet. Sasuke had slipped in the mud and sagged against him.

"You've done enough for today, alright?" Naruto assured him, and Sasuke did nothing, staring blankly into space and wet to the bone. Sakura had watched as Naruto leaned his head against their former teammate's, pulling him into a hug.

"Okay," Naruto had murmured into his hair, making _shushing_ sounds as he'd rubbed his hand across Sasuke's bony back. "Okay, let's go home. I'll get you some tomatoes and new pajamas, all right? Bet you'll like that."

Sasuke had remained unresponsive.

Naruto had eventually re-slung his arm around the Uchiha's shoulders and dragged him off. Sakura had felt sick just watching. "It's okay, Sasuke." The blond ninja had said as he'd pulled him away. "Everything will work out. You'll see."

"Want to go back?" Kakashi had asked her in the awkward silence that followed, and Sakura nodded. When the two of them reached his apartment, Sakura had shucked off her wet clothes and crawled into her makeshift cot in the corner of his living room, huddling beneath the covers.

After that, she stayed in bed for a week. She didn't visit her parents' grave for even longer.

* * *

><p>There was no talking after the argument. Sakura followed Sasuke's orders to get ready and gear up, but even then it was only because she wasn't willing to risk her anger getting anyone killed in the process. She and Sasuke, they could go down in a blaze of glory for all Sakura cared. But the others; the others were innocent in this situation, and she was going to fight tooth and nail to protect them. She didn't trust Sasuke to do it. Not again.<p>

Sakura stayed away from the LSF for a time, cloistering herself between a cluster of giant mushrooms as she bit down on her bottom lip in an effort to muffle her cries. _Don't scream, _she told herself, _don't scream, don't let them hear you, _but the ache inside had turned to agony. In an effort to distance herself from the pain in her chest and the horror in her head, Sakura ended up digging her nails so hard into her left arm it began to bleed. It brought her some relief, but not enough, and for a few seconds she was consumed with the urge to whip out her kunai and dig deeper. The nebulous despair and helpless anger she felt when she thought of Sasuke was eating at her insides like a worm.

Sakura didn't have long to herself, and less than five minutes after storming away, Hanabi was sent to fetch her. Sakura **knew** she'd been sent to fetch her, because Sasuke – in all his infinite wisdom – had probably decided the Hyuga was the least likely to get her head bit off, barring Juugo. The woman was too close to Naruto, however, and too connected to everything in Sakura's past that mottled her recollections like a bruise. She didn't want to see her.

Hanabi simply stood there, about six feet away with her hands hanging at her sides. She eyed Sakura's bleeding forearm – the way her blunt nails were digging grooves into her flesh with miniature chakra scalpels – then met Sakura's frenzied gaze with her own. Her eyes were pale and haunted, the skin around them shadowed.

"Are you alright?" She asked. She sounded tired. Beyond the tree line past the sea of grass that blanketed the horizon, there was a whale-like scream, but Sakura didn't flinch this time. She was too upset over other things to do so. Closer, though, she could hear the crackle of what sounded like fire, burning low and moving across the field. Whatever had attacked them was finally catching up, although Sakura didn't know what the flames were from, exactly. They had to move fast.

_Get it together, _Sakura told herself, biting down even harder on her bottom lip in an effort to contain the screams. _Get it together, just like the war, don't think about it. The others need you. _Quickly, she deactivated the scalpels and healed her arm, but her chakra control wasn't the greatest at the moment. The job was so sloppy that it actually left a scar.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah." She finally choked out in response to Hanabi's question. "Yeah, I'll be alright." Then, coughing slightly to clear her throat "I'm sorry you had to see that."

She was. She really was. Watching another nin crack under emotional duress was horrible for team moral, especially if that nin was the medic; the one who was supposed to be fixing everyone else. Fuck, she'd been so selfish. _I shouldn't have screamed_, Sakura thought. _I should have just walked away, and said nothing. _Then the others wouldn't have known about it.

Hanabi said nothing, the woods around them utterly silent except for the rumble of thunder across the fields. Smoke was beginning to make its way amongst the gnarled mushrooms, and the scent of burning grass was clogging up Sakura's senses.

"Don't tell him what you saw." She warned the Hyuga, shivering hard and desperately wishing for her jacket as she ran her hands up and down her arms. It had been left behind in their mad scramble across the dead zone. Sakura also wished that Hanabi hadn't seen what she'd done, but oh well, cat was out of the bag, and fuck if she knew what to do about it. She had to stall, she had to –

Hanabi blinked once at her request, her voice flat and dead. "He already knows." She said. Sakura nearly choked on the bile that flooded her throat at the news.

"Does he, now?" She snapped, shaky and full of rage. Hanabi's expression would have been sad, if it didn't appear so exhausted.

"He always keeps tabs on you." She said, and Sakura flinched. "You're _you_." Then Hanabi turned around and walked back towards the others.

Choking. Sakura felt like she was choking. She was drowning in everything Sasuke, and there was no way to escape him except through death. The blaze of glory idea was looking better with each passing minute. She couldn't take the stress, nor a repeat of what went down during the war or what happened afterwards.

_Remember the others, _Sakura told herself, but it was so, **so** hard to do so, when Sasuke was pushing everything else to the side.

Scrubbing her hands across her eyes, Sakura finally managed to get a hold of herself long enough to walk back to the others. Almost immediately, she stumbled sideways, hit by a dizzy spell so strong she was forced to stop and rest. There was a weird jumping sensation beneath her ribs were her heart was located, and Sakura put her palm there, flooding her chest with chakra to try and will away the sensation. With her other hand, she braced herself against a nearby mushroom, her fingers bony-looking and insubstantial.

_Remember the others, _she repeated as she finally pushed herself off the giant tuber. _You can think about yourself later. Forget Sasuke. _When she made her way back to the platoon, the rest of the LSF were already assembled into much smaller versions of their individual squads.

Sakura discovered – much to her horror – that Sasuke was still making good on his promise to force her and Juugo to travel with him in the vanguard. The decision was unbelievably stupid, and uncharacteristically lacking in strategic judgement on his part. Juugo was ill, and far too weak, and Sakura knew that one wrong move could send him spiraling into septic shock. Aya was at the front, as were the twins. As Sakura passed, slinking back like a wounded animal, Sora and Shun watched her with big puppy dog eyes and expressions chock-full of anxiety, but she didn't acknowledge them.

Susumu was lingering somewhere in the back, but Sakura didn't look at him either. She didn't think she could stand his kindness. It hurt too much.

The minute she was in place, the platoon moved out; silent, miserable, and far too trigger happy as they slipped deeper into the forest. Sasuke was just as angry as she was, but seemed to have even less control over his emotions. His chakra was spiking so badly it made it all but impossible to concentrate. Even though Sakura had slapped him and stormed off – even though she'd made it clear to **everyone** that she wanted nothing to do with him – Sasuke couldn't seem to take _no_ for an answer. He refused to give her the space she so desperately craved, and Hanabi's words echoed endlessly in Sakura's head.

_He already knows. He always keeps tabs on you. You're you. _What did he know? How long did he know it? Oh gods, just how long had he been watching her?

Sakura thought of all the sleepless nights that she'd had since the war – those nights filled with paranoia and perimeter sweeps, where she couldn't shake the sense that someone was watching her – and her constant fear took on a whole new meaning. Sasuke and Naruto were close, and Naruto was one of the few people that knew where she lived. But if Sasuke had asked Naruto, if he'd expressed even the slightest amount of interest about her well-being… oh fuck, the Hokage had probably told him too.

_Calm, _Sakura reminded herself as they wound their way deeper into the woods. _Stay calm. Don't scream. _But it was hard to stay calm when Sasuke was walking no more than ten paces away from her.

The left side of the Uchiha's face was stippled with bruising, and in the low light of the forest those bruises nearly looked black. Sasuke said nothing, Juugo's last remaining arm slung around his shoulders as he all but dragged the other nin into the forest. His expression – from what Sakura could make of it – was angry and defiant, his posture tense as if he were waiting for her to comment on Juugo's treatment. She said nothing. Sakura traveled no closer to Sasuke that was necessary, and when the anxiety and loathing became too much to handle, she fell back a good twenty paces, determined to walk behind.

Immediately, Sasuke took notice.

He handed Juugo off to Aya, who received the injured nin with a surprising amount of delicacy and nary a word of complaint. Sakura had barely registered the transfer before Sasuke was falling back to walk beside her, hovering just out of arm's reach like some sort of malevolent cloud of death that clung to anything with pink hair. He was close enough it was obvious to everyone that she wasn't allowed to leave. Not without his permission, at least, and he wasn't going to give it.

Choking. Sakura was **choking**, and it was only partially because of the Uchiha's suffocating chakra. Sasuke's expression was twisted, his control on the aforementioned chakra so poor it was leaking like a goddamn sieve. He was in such a foul mood that the rest of the LSF were upset right along with him, especially the twins, who hovered around him the same way Sasuke hovered around Sakura, albeit with nervousness instead of anger. The rest of Sasuke's platoon were professionals, however, and because of this they made no untoward comments about the situation. Seeing how they tiptoed around Sasuke like elephants on eggshells, however, made it blindingly clear to Sakura that they were used to this sort of behavior. That they had kept silent about it, and let that behavior persist. Sasuke was acting only marginally better than he had after the war, and if they were back in Konoha it would have been enough to get him placed under house arrest and doped up to his eyeballs on meds.

_He should never of been put back on active duty. _Sakura thought savagely, and cursed Naruto for his desire to mitigate Sasuke's aggression at any and all costs. _Fuck the Hokage and his reasons._ Their former teammate was too dangerous, and Sakura had lost her ability to deal with his obsessive focus ages ago.

Again, she tried to draw away from him, and again, Sasuke changed course to steer her back towards the center-front of the group, where she was protected on all sides. This time, there was nothing subtle about the way he herded her from place to place. Nothing innocuous about how he made it clear she was on a leash, and he wasn't letting her go anywhere.

_He already knows. He always keeps tabs on you. You're you. _The words continued to haunt her, and rather abruptly, Sakura was reminded of a conversation she'd had with Karin; years ago, just before the other kunoichi had left.

"Sucks to be you." The red-haired sensor had said, adjusting her glasses along the shallow bridge of her nose. She'd palmed the small cup of sake in front of her, before downing it in a single gulp and waving her hand in front of her face. Sakura had simply stared at her, and the other kunoichi had looked away, shamed and almost apologetic.

"Sorry." She'd mumbled, and she'd sounded like she meant it. "But I don't envy you. Really, I don't. He's too dangerous."

"He's Sasuke." Sakura had deadpanned, wanting to be anywhere other than there. Karin had looked like she'd felt the same.

"Exactly." The redhead had said, and then she'd left. Sakura had never seen her again. Karin was right, though. Sasuke was too much for anyone to handle, but that's what happened when you came from an incredibly aggressive, warlike clan with a propensity for madness. Simple things like _no_ and _give me space _never factored into the equation.

For hours the LSF traveled deep into Kusa, moving farther and farther into the mushroom forest until those mushrooms gave way to giant, moss-covered trees. The trees were close together, their canopies so thick the entire area was cast into shadow. Across the ground, gnarled roots snaked every which way, blanketed by emerald green moss and a thick undergrowth of ferns. Kusa had always been a quiet place, in that there was little indication of human civilization outside the hidden village itself. But now, there was no sound except for the slight crunch of dead branches breaking beneath their feet as they walked. No chirp of sparrows, nor the drilling sound of woodpeckers; not even the whirr of cicadas, even though they were in the heart of the forest.

The silence was terrifying, and it made Sakura want to bolt. They were traveling slowly, however, too slowly for her to run without it being noticed. At first Sakura thought this was because of Juugo, but then she looked to her left, and realized Sasuke was setting the pace of the entire group to match **hers**. The rage filled her, then, followed quickly by shame. Because of **course** Sasuke would know she wasn't feeling well, and of **course** he would draw attention to her weakness by letting them walk at a snail's pace. The rage and shame were quickly replaced by terror, however, when Sakura realized that by walking so slow, she was putting the squad in danger. Without a word she sped up, running as fast as she thought Juugo could manage. Her chest began to ache as she did.

They ran then, for several hours at least. And still, there was nothing. No rapid beating of wings as birds flitted amongst the trees, nor the rustling of animals rooting around amongst ferns that blanketed the forest floor. There was just silence, dead silence. Everything was where it should have been, except all the fauna was gone.

Not once were they stopped by Kusa nins, nor did they pick up on any foreign chakra signatures. After three hours of running, Sakura was finally willing to admit that something was horribly wrong. Kusa was much smaller than Konoha, but not undefended. Where was everyone? Why hadn't they been stopped, especially with Sasuke's chakra leaking everywhere?

_It can't be that bad, _Sakura thought, but a part of her knew that it was.

She tripped, then. Not in an overly dramatic fashion, but her chest was hurting and she was having trouble breathing, and as a result the minor deviation sent her tumbling to the ground. Sakura's fear of the silence was so acute that she didn't actually feel the crippling shame that had accompanied her first fall in front of Susumu. A moment later, however, she felt a warm hand on her arm; slim, callused fingers circling her bicep as they started to pull her off the forest floor. Sakura fought the urge to snarl as she reached over and violently slapped Sasuke's hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She hissed. Sasuke stopped immediately, his movements jerky as if he hadn't expected her to protest, but then he was letting go and stepping away.

"Hanabi." He murmured. A moment later, Sakura felt a muted chakra presence next to hers. A pair of milky hands went to her shoulder and forearm as the younger Hyuga helped her up. Sasuke turned around and kept walking, but at a slow enough pace that the two women were not far behind.

"You don't need to," Sakura began, but Hanabi was so tight-lipped and the forest just felt so wrong that Sakura immediately dropped the subject. The Hyuga stared straight ahead as they walked, her byakugan activated as they followed the rest of the group. They had fallen behind a bit, but if Sakura had thought Sasuke would leave her alone because of it, she was sadly mistake. He simply moved to the back as well, traveling no more than fifteen paces in front of them.

"How's Hotaka?" Sakura asked, even though her chest was hurting so badly it was a struggle to breathe. Hanabi didn't look at her, her brow furrowing deep enough that stress lines began to form.

"Not good." She admitted quietly. "He's with Ai and Etsuko." Then rather abruptly, the woman leaned sideways to whisper into Sakura's ear, gripping her forearm with a surprising amount of desperation.

"Your heart's worse." She said bluntly, and Sakura could detect a note of fear in her tone. "I mean it. You need to stop running. Please."

In a flood of paranoia, Sakura immediately looked towards Sasuke to see if he'd heard, but the Uchiha kept walking, his sandal-clad feet moving silently across the mossy ground. Sakura could feel sweat dotting her brow, the utter stillness of the woods and the strange sensation of her heart beating erratically inside her chest.

"I'm fine." She said, then added more truthfully. "I have to be. We'll make it." Hanabi didn't seem convinced, but said nothing. The Hyuga pressed her lips into a thin, angry line and finally withdrew. All around them, the silence continued: thick, oppressive, and endless.

The LSF walked for another ten minutes, before they abruptly slowed down and came to a complete halt. This time, it was because of Aya. She stood at the front, Juugo's broad arm slung across her shoulders, her posture wary and alert. Her long black hair hung like a dead weight along the length of her back, her three-pronged gunbai glinting dully in the low light of the forest.

In front of the platoon, there was nothing. Nothing but trees that seemed to go on forever, and the eerie stillness that lingered in between them. The emerald green moss was soft and slightly springy beneath Sakura's sandaled feet; the bark of a nearby tree rough and damp beneath her palm as she braced her hand against it. None of the LSF moved as they waited for their next order, standing like stone sentries in the twilight. Sasuke moved to the front to stand beside Aya, tilting his head just the slightest bit to observe the darkness. Their voices were slightly muffled by the distance, but Sakura could hear them well enough.

"We shouldn't go this way." Aya was saying, her words blunt and firm. "It's too quiet."

"Do you see anything?" Sasuke asked.

Aya shook her head. "No. That's the point." She was utterly fearless around him, and even though Sakura resented the woman for the way she'd treated Susumu, she couldn't help but admire her backbone when dealing with the Uchiha.

There was a moment of uneasy calm, where no one said anything and all they did was stare collectively into the ever-growing gloom.

"Hanabi." Sasuke said at last, and the Hyuga stepped forward at the sound of her name, walking up to stand beside him. While she and Sasuke began to converse, Sakura leaned heavily against a nearby tree, her head and shoulder _thunking _dully against the wood so she could free her hands and bring one to her chest. _Thump, thump, ba-thump_, went her heart in the silence, loud enough that Sakura could hear the muffled beating of it in her ears.

Gradually, she clued into the presence of someone above her. Susumu clung perpendicular to tree, hanging by chakra threads several feet over her head like a spider. Sakura didn't say anything, nor did she look in his direction, but she felt him slide down the trunk and land on the moss all the same. His breath wafted ever so slightly across her bare shoulder as he rose to stand behind her.

There was a pause in time, where nothing moved and all Sakura did was watch as Sasuke and Hanabi discussed their next course of action. Then, she felt Susumu's fingers slide carefully between her slack ones as he clasped her hand from behind. Around her, the world seemed to expand and contract in a rush, and Sakura's senses narrowed to the singular sensation of Susumu's fingers twining with hers. He was cooler than Sasuke, but also gentler. _Kind, _she thought abstractly. _He's too kind. _Then, Sakura thought about his sister in Konoha; about Sasuke as a child, all alone in a mildewing estate after Itachi had slaughtered their clan. The creature came from the sides, Sasuke had said. It came from the sides and swung around to cut off your escape.

And Sakura felt terror then, but none of it for herself. It wasn't Susumu's fault he was part of the LSF, or that he was loyal to Sasuke first. She shouldn't have pushed him away before.

Before she could lose her nerve, Sakura returned Susumu's gesture, squeezing her fingers around his. Sakura felt him shift his weight, his breath rustling the pink hair on the top of her head as he moved, before he fell still. They stayed like that for several moments, with neither of them acknowledging that the other was there beyond a clasping of fingers; her too-thin ones to his, pale and tipped in red.

Suddenly Sasuke stepped back, rocking on his left heel a bit as he seemed to come to a decision. Before he could turn all the way around – before Sakura could register that Susumu's hand was no longer in hers – the other nin was withdrawing, crawling back up the tree as if nothing had happened. Sakura's gaze briefly went in his direction as he moved. When she turned back, Sasuke was looking towards the rest of the group, but not at her directly. Aya was, however, her lips pursed in a thin line as she trained her eyes to a point just above Sakura's head.

A little ways off, Hanabi was eying her cousin Hotaka, who was standing beside Ai and shaking so hard his tremors were visible from a good twenty feet away. _Shit_, Sakura thought, pushing herself off the tree. Mentally, she began to go through her list of supplies, trying to think of what to give him without knocking the other nin out in the process. He was going to break. She knew it.

"Five minutes." Sasuke said, then he turned to Ai and ordered her to do a perimeter sweep. The kunoichi darted off without a word. The rest of them settled down for a brief respite; all except for Hotaka, who was pacing back and forth and clutching at his head. Sasuke began to eye him with interest, and Sakura hastily unsealed her bigger bag of supplies from a scroll. As she did so, Hanabi quickly darted over to her cousin and put her hand on his shoulder, speaking to him in low, hushed tones as she tried to convince him to sit down.

At the front, Aya made a _tch _sound with her tongue as she took in the scene. "Hozuki!" She snapped. Silently, Suigetsu melted out of a nearby tree and made his way towards her. When he reached the kunoichi, she handed Juugo over to him, before turning back around and glaring at a spot directly above Sakura's head.

"Ueda." She said, gesturing with a quick jerk of her chin. Sakura could feel the slightest displacement of air as Susumu dropped to the ground and walked past her to speak to Aya. Sasuke ignored them both, turning around to talk to Michi, so Sakura ignored Aya too. She didn't want to. She didn't like the way the kunoichi was glaring at Susumu, gesturing angrily with her hands as they leaned their heads together to talk, but Hotaka came first. With one of her hands still pressed to her chest, Sakura quickly made her way towards him. The forest seemed even more stagnant than before, the trees looming upwards into the darkened sky. Sakura was painfully aware of the lack of noise that permeated the woods, how even the mulch rustling beneath her feet seemed too loud in the silence.

When she reached Hotaka, Sakura saw just how badly he was shaking. His hands were trembling so violently against his head that she knew he wouldn't be able to hold a kunai, much less throw one. Hanabi had managed to get him to sit down, but it wasn't enough. The Hyuga's dark brown hair was matted, his skin so pale it was the color of bone. There was fresh blood on his fingers, and Sakura didn't remember seeing any when she'd handed him the pills, hours before. His byakugan were activated to the point where spiderweb veins were snaking their way across his face and down his neck in an effort to maintain his bloodline. His bottom lip was raw from constant gnawing, his teeth stained slightly red.

_No, oh no._

Sakura quickly crouched down and pushed Hanabi to the side, dragging out her pack and frantically rifling through it for the right type of meds. She wanted to put him under – knew it was the best course of action, given his head-space – but couldn't risk it at the moment. They couldn't carry the dead weight, especially if they were going to fight, and Sakura needed to conserve her chakra.

"Was he prone to anxiety before?" She asked Hanabi, and the other woman pursed her lips and shook her head. Sakura focused all her attention on the other Hyuga, then, making sure to stay close but not too close, in case he lashed out.

"Hotaka." She said softly as he sat there, shivering and shaking with blood on his teeth. When he didn't respond, Sakura spoke more firmly. "**Hotaka**." She repeated. He bit down on his lip, his head jerking up as he looked in her direction.

"Do you remember who I am?" She said, as a way to distract him. Hotaka grit his teeth, sucking in a shaky breath as his eyes watered, and nodded.

"Y-yeah."

"What's my name, Hotaka?"

"H-Haruno S-Sak-kura."

"Do you remember where we're going?"

"K-Kusa, then Iwa."

"Are you going to be alright?"

Hotaka nodded once, then more vigorously, his teeth chattering audibly. He was still cognizant, which was good, but the anxiety…

"F-fine." He answered. "I-I'll b-be fine. It's just," He paused, his pale, pupil-less eyes shutting tight for a brief moment as he jigged his leg up and down on the log. "It's just the s-s-screaming. It w-won't s-s-stop –"

Hotaka was small for a Hyuga. Fine boned and extremely aristocratic-looking, if you took away the blood and the dark circles of insomnia around his eyes. Sakura didn't want to bring up bad memories for him – it was a dangerous thing to do, especially now – but she had to know, in order to assess just how deep the damage really was. How she could mitigate it in others for future encounters.

"How close did you get, Hotaka?" She asked him gently, and the nin shuddered and moaned. Sakura finally found the pack of pills she was looking for, and drew them out.

"It was r-right there." He said. "R-right there, and it w-was r-ripping them. Their s-s-skin was mel-melting –"

"Tell me about Konoha." Sakura said flatly, making sure to keep her voice nice and even. "Tell me something good. The things you like best, alright?"

"I w-w-want – but the **jubi** –"

"Tell me about Konoha." Sakura insisted, reaching over very carefully to free his hands from his hair and hold them gently between her own. "What's your favorite part?" In one of his palms, she placed the pills, folding his fingers over the medication and keeping his grip steady.

"T-the Hokage M-Mountain." Hotaka began, his hand shaking violently as Sakura helped him swallow the pills. Once he did, she quickly reached to her side, grabbing her water flask and uncorking it to let him drink from it. "O-on the m-m-mountains, you can s-s-see everything –"

Abruptly Hanabi stood, crossing her arms and quickly walking away. Sakura wanted to punch her for it. She needed her here, with her cousin.

"Tell me about the mountain, Hotaka." Sakura soothed, massaging both his hands between hers even after he swallowed the pills. She could feel deep contusions along his palms, and realized the blood on his fingers came from him digging his nails so deep into the skin that it bled. The Hyuga made a whimpering sound, and began to rock back and forth. Sakura was consumed with the urge to draw him into a hug to try and will away the terror, but knew any more physical contact would spook him.

"Y-you can s-see the village," He began, choking on his own words. "A-a-and when you s-see the s-s-sunrise, it m-makes everything look g-g-gold."

"Do you like going there, in between missions?" She asked. Hotaka nodded, but then he made a whining noise like a dying dog. He began rocking harder.

"It's n-nice, going back." He said. "This time, I t-t-told Aoi h-he c-c-could come with me. I s-said he could come, but it got him. It d-d-dissolved his leg, and there was **s-s-screaming** –"

In a rush of understanding, Sakura realized he was talking about one of the LSF who hadn't made it. She wanted to cry for him, then – for the loss of those who didn't survive the assault – but didn't. She could do that later.

"Hey," Sakura said, shuffling close to try and keep his focus on her, but Hotaka withdrew one of his hands from hers and started clutching at the side of his head. From somewhere behind them, Sakura could hear Aya's voice rising as she snarled something at Susumu, but she couldn't make out the words.

"Shh, Hotaka." Sakura said, and he whimpered and shut his eyes tight, rocking even harder. "You made it, alright? We're going to go back. The screaming will stop."

"It's c-coming." He gasped, rocking forward so far he nearly hit his head on Sakura's shoulder, before rising up and completing the motion again. Sakura heard the snap of a twig as someone began walking rather quickly in their direction. "It's coming, and the **s-s-screaming** –"

"Hotaka, shh, shh, it's okay –"

"The s-s-screaming, there was s-s-so much s-s-screaming, and the s-smell –"

"**Hotaka** –"

And then Sakura felt Sasuke's presence right behind her. She saw his shadow as he leaned over her, felt his hand on her arm as he quickly pushed her out of the way. Sakura recoiled violently from him, all thoughts of Hotaka gone in an instant, but almost immediately she regained control and realized that Hanabi was with him. Sasuke reached forward, roughly grabbing Hotaka's chin and forcing his head up.

"Hotaka, look up." He said, and the Hyuga did. And then the sharingan was spinning, the eternal mangekyō spiraling to life and expanding across Sasuke's eye as Hotaka stared straight into the bloody center of it. Almost immediately, he went slack, his posture limp as a doll beneath Sasuke's grasp.

Sakura let out a shout of fury and stood in a rush, violently pushing Sasuke away from him, hard enough to break contact. Sasuke stumbled, but didn't go down. Hotaka remained slack and dead-eyed atop the fallen log.

"What are you doing?!" Sakura demanded, so shrilly that the rest of the LSF turned to look towards her. Sasuke looked up and over, glaring in her direction, the rinnegan swollen shut from the force of her earlier slap but the sharingan still bright and angry. It was the first time they'd looked at each other head on since she'd hit him. Sakura wanted to hit him again. Oh gods, she wanted to pound his face into the dirt.

"Keep your voice down -" Sasuke began, but Sakura was having none of it.

"How dare you." She said, her hands curling into fists and chakra flooding across her palms as she strode into his personal space, stepping between him and Hotaka. Sasuke looked down at her, looming like some sort of bloody god of death, but Sakura wasn't afraid. "How **dare** you use it on him. He needs help –"

"He's unstable." Sasuke spat, and then his chakra was flaring even worse than before, absolutely suffocating in its sheer weight as he blanketed her and everything else in the surrounding area. It made him seem even taller. "The mangekyō will keep him calm until we get back."

"It will **hurt** him." Sakura said, and she couldn't believe that they were having this conversation. Was absolutely flabbergasted that Sasuke didn't understand this fatal flaw in his plan. "You use the mangekyō too often on him, especially when he's like this, and his mind will crack –"

"I've done it before." Sasuke snapped, his hands curling into fists as he towered over her, his lips pulled back in a snarl. Sakura had to crane her head all the way back just to look him in the eye.

"Are you serious?!" She demanded.

"It works." He said defensively.

Sakura turned to Hanabi, aghast.

"And you **let** him?" She demanded. Hanabi looked away guiltily, rubbing at her arm, but said nothing. Then from behind Sakura, there was a moan as Hotaka began to whimper. Again.

"T-the s-screams." He said, as if no time had passed at all. "T-the s-s-screams, I can still – it ate h-h-his leg, and it m-m-melted –"

Sasuke blinked, his expression changing to one of mild alarm. Then he was quickly pushing Sakura out of the way despite her protests, grabbing the Hyuga's chin and repeating the entire process again. Immediately Sakura turned around, reaching out to pull him back, but Hanabi stepped in this time, stilling her hands with a painful expression.

"Wait." She said. "Please."

Again Hotaka went slack, and again, there was nothing for a moment or two, before his senses cleared and he began whimpering as if nothing had happened. His sentences picked up from the exact same moment that they had left off.

"It's not working." Sasuke said slowly, almost as if he was in a trance himself. His face was blank with shock. "It doesn't stick."

Sakura didn't want to ask _why_, but she did. She was the only medic there, and she needed to keep track of what went wrong and when.

"How close did you get, exactly?"

Sasuke blinked and said nothing, dropping his hand from Hotaka's chin and stepping back. The other nin curled up and began clawing at his head. Hanabi quickly stepped forward to comfort him.

"Sasuke." Sakura repeated, but he didn't answer, seemingly still in a trance. And Sakura couldn't resist. The spite that was building inside her was too much to hold back.

"So is this how you do it?" She spat. Sasuke finally turned to look at her, and Sakura kept going, heedless of the consequences. "Is this how you fix people without a medic? By using the **mangekyō**?"

Sasuke glared at her fiercely, sharingan still spinning, but Sakura didn't look away. She wasn't afraid of his eyes, anymore. Only the sound of the birds. They stood like that for a moment, squaring off, but Sasuke didn't dignify her question with a response. "We need to move." He said, turning away, then added "Hanabi, with Hotaka." He glanced briefly at Sakura. "Same as before."

Sakura decided she was literally one comment away from screaming. She couldn't handle him anymore. Without delay, the remaining LSF moved out.

Deeper into the woods they went, until the trees were over two-hundred feet tall and so closely spaced there was barely a meter or two of room between them. The bottoms of their massive trunks and the ground beneath were entirely covered in moss. They didn't change course, but they moved much slower than before, walking with trepidation and almost all of them with their weapons drawn. Sakura traveled between Sasuke and Aya, but the two of them were so intense that she didn't know which one made her more uncomfortable. The twins traveled right behind them.

About half an hour into their resumed walking, with still no Kusa nins in sight, Suigetsu melded out of a nearby tree and ambled over to Sasuke.

"What do you think happened to them?" He asked. Everyone knew what he meant. Sasuke said nothing, and Sakura decided she didn't want to know. Up ahead, there was nothing but the darkness between the trees and the stillness in the air. Every now and then, Sakura heard the snap of a twig beneath someone's foot, but that was it. Sasuke was still leaking chakra like a sieve, his control over it almost as bad as Naruto's when they were kids.

Suddenly, there was a soft cry of alarm from Hanabi. Everyone stopped.

Sakura turned to look at the other woman, and saw her frozen still with what looked like terror. Her byakugan were activated, her hand clenched around her kunai. Beside her, Hotaka was shaking.

"Chakra void, dead ahead." She said in a trembling voice. "Can't see anything about three-hundred yards away."

Immediately, everyone turned to look at the forest.

Like before, there was nothing but trees and silence. The woods were so thick that Sakura lost sight of what was between them less than fifty yards away. It felt like before, though; like that time several nights back, when she'd been sitting by herself in the bamboo grove and had been overcome with the sensation that something was watching them. She hadn't realized it was the same sensation, but her anxiety over Sasuke had been such a constant over the past couple hours that it had drowned out everything else.

Beside her, the Uchiha tensed, his hand going to Kusanagi's hilt and the other twitching in agitation as if he wanted to form a series of seals. In front of them, there was no movement. Not even the hint of chakra.

"Fall back." Sasuke said quietly, his movements controlled and chakra suddenly muted. Everyone followed his order without question, slowly backtracking en mass through the trees. _Where are the Kusa nins? _Sakura wondered again. In the back of her mind she knew the answer, but didn't want to acknowledge it. Up ahead, there was the sudden _snap_ of a branch from somewhere deep in the woods.

And with that, Hotaka bolted.

He made a strangled sound, then scrambled out ahead of them **towards** the sound instead of away from it, scrambling like a madman across the moss as he darted between the trees.

"Hotaka!" Hanabi cried, but Sakura was already ditching everything and bolting out after him. Because fuck, fuck she knew it, she knew he was going to snap, but the Hyuga was disoriented, and Sasuke using the mangekyō on him had probably made things worse.

"Sakura!" She heard someone call out – a man, it sounded like, and probably Sasuke – but she didn't stop, nor did she care.

Her chest hurt as she darted into the forest after the Hyuga, her feet tearing up the too-soft moss before she finally began ricocheting off the tree trunks with chakra to increase her speed. Sakura didn't want to use her chakra for something like this, but Hotaka was fast as fuck and the terror was making him quicker. She wouldn't catch him otherwise, and if Sasuke got to him first she knew he would use the mangekyō again. She **knew** it.

Hotaka's path was erratic as he darted towards the void, going straight for a bit before veering wildly to the left and then leveling out once more. "Hotaka!" Sakura pleaded. "Hotaka, wait!" All she could see was the flash of the kunai at his hip as he darted between two trees, the shimmer of his glossy hair, and then he was gone.

"Shit!" Sakura cursed, then sped up to try and catch him. The farther she ran between the trees, the thicker the silence became. Her desperation was making her reckless. There was another _snap_ from somewhere up ahead in the woods, but Sakura couldn't tell if it came from Hotaka or the creature.

Then Sasuke was there, his chakra flaring as he looped his arm around her waist and violently yanked her back.

The two of them tumbled to the forest floor with the force of his gesture. Sakura barely had time to realize that Sasuke was there before the Uchiha was scrabbling towards a tree and dragging her with him. Then, Sakura clued into other noises; a wet shuffling sound from somewhere in front of them, then a large _crack_ that sounded like wood breaking.

In front of them, one of the massive trees began to fall.

Down it went, groaning in agony as its roots ripped up the earth. As it fell, several other trees went with it, toppling like monolithic dominoes to hit the ground one after another. Each time a tree hit, Sasuke's arm tightened around her waist as the earth shook with the force of the impact. For a moment Sakura didn't care that she was pressed against him, and she turned her face into his shoulder to protect it from the falling debris. Sasuke curled around her, his arm going over her head.

The stayed like that for the next several seconds, and when the last tree fell there was silence, the crackle of dust and stray bark as it floated lazily to the forest floor. Sakura could hear her own ragged breathing as her chest heaved with exertion; could feel Sasuke's arm around her waist and his forehead pressed against her neck. His own shoulders rose up and down with the force of his gasps. Then, Sakura realized that Sasuke was **touching** her, and remembered that Hotaka was still out there. She tried to pry him off, but immediately Sasuke slapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her flush against his chest, shrinking deeper into the space between the tree roots where they had fallen, his legs on either side of hers.

"Stay still." He whispered in her ear, and then Sakura heard it. A wet shuffling sound, like raw meat being dragged across a chopping board. This was followed by a _bubbling_, like some sort of liquid frothing within a fleshy container. Sakura could barely see in the gloom, but she could make out basic shapes well enough.

With slow-dawning horror, she watched as something massive rose up on the other side of the fallen trees, roiling like a wave and undulating as it moved, nearly thirty feet high and immeasurably long as it snaked its way across the forest floor in front of them. The thing looked like a darkened blob as it moved, so great was the gloom in the forest. Sakura thought she spied something pink as it slunk beneath a small patch of light. There were a series of spiny thorns jutting out from the top of it, and she lost sight of them for a moment as the gelatinous mass disappeared on the other side of the giant log, before rising again. Around them, there was the overwhelming smell of _sugar_, like taking a deep whiff of overripe oranges.

Sasuke's arm tightened even further around her waist as the creature passed, and without meaning to Sakura gripped his hand in reassurance - the one over her mouth - her fingers clutching his as she pressed herself against him in terror. Neither of them dared to move as the thing continued past, seemingly unaware of their presence.

Sakura felt her heart drop into her stomach. The creature was huge. Oh gods, it was endless, and she could already feel her chakra draining just by being near it.

For several minutes the two of them remained where they were, until the thing ambling across their path began to slowly turn away, moving deeper into the woods. _Hotaka, _Sakura thought abstractly. _Oh gods, Hotaka. He's still out there_. But Sasuke had already begun to inch backwards very slowly, scooting over the ground on his rear and dragging Sakura with him. His never removed his arm from her waist or his hand from her mouth.

Sakura let him at first, because the thing was there, **right there**, and it hadn't seen them yet, but once they got far enough away, she tried to break free of his grasp without making a sound. Sakura dug her fingers under his to try and pry them off her face, but Sasuke was too strong to defeat without chakra.

"Hotaka." She whispered when she finally managed to free her mouth, but the arm around her waist remained firm. Sasuke never stopped dragging them back. "We have to get Hotaka –"

"Not now." He said against her ear, and his voice was so deep it caused vibrations to rattle through Sakura's skull. She kept picking at his fingers. Sasuke kept dragging her away. He was warm against her back, so much so he felt like a furnace. If she hadn't been terrified, Sakura would have sobbed in relief from the respite that his warmth brought from the chill.

"Hotaka –" She insisted, but then there was another sharp _snap_ of wood breaking from somewhere up ahead, followed by a wet, reedy moan. Sasuke's arm spasmed so tightly around her middle it nearly knocked the breath out of her, and all Sakura could feel was the heat; his arm clutching at her waist as Sasuke frantically dragged her back.

"Not now." He bit out as they retreated. There was the undercurrent of desperation to his voice, his breath warm against the shell of her ear. "Later. I promise."

Sakura bit down on her bottom lip and felt tears of impotent fury prick at her eyes, but said nothing and let Sasuke drag her the rest of the way. Her former teammate was a suffocating, ever-constant reminder of her past, but when he made a promise, he kept it, for good or for bad. She knew he'd come back to try and find Hotaka eventually.

When they made it to the rest of the group, Hanabi was crying, silent tears coursing down her cheeks as she looked at the two of them in despair. Only then, in the presence of the others, did Sasuke let go of her. His withdrew from Sakura and stepped back. Without a word, the Uchiha took Juugo from Suigetsu, and then they were off, running as fast as they could without their chakra.

They fled into the forest, back the way they came. Sakura tried not to linger on the hopelessness of it.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. Once again, I'm completely awed by the level of feedback I've gotten. A note on the update schedule: there seems to be some confusion as to what I meant when I said biweekly. When I say biweekly, I mean every **two** weeks. I'd love to update quicker than that, but unfortunately I don't have the time for it, and _The Hematic _is my top priority right now in terms of fanfiction.

And ohmygawd, so many guest reviews. *starts shaking with excitement* I will try my best to answer them all:

_Sasusaku4ever: _I find it hilarious that people are voting for pairings, considering the third wheel of this whole thing is an OC. But regardless, on with the shipping wars! _Mo: And the dark side is strong with this writer. _But corny Star Wars jokes aside, I love tension. The reason why Susumu's adorable is because I was wondering "what would a lamb look like as a ninja?" And _bam_, you've got Susu. As for creating realistic characters while keeping to canon… I dunno, I think I just have a feeling for it? I'm pretty good at sussing people out, so I guess I just do the same when I'm deconstructing characters.

_Guest (who likes possessive Sasuke)_: I'm gonna make you guys choose. I'm gonna turn it into a shipping war, I swear I'll do it. _Guests (who are addressing the rest of the reviewers)_: I'm not sure if you're asking me those questions as well? But if you're on tumblr you can just tag stuff as "Monomoth" or "Ohtze" and I'll try to answer anon questions as best I can through there. Or just ask me a question directly. That goes for everyone, really.

_Second Guest_: Your review was so sweet! It made my day. It's heartening to see that my OCs are as well liked as the canon characters. I also know that there are a lot of anon readers out there who never say anything, but they don't have to apologize (and neither do you). _Guest (wondering about Sasuke and what he's thinking): _I know, I know, everyone wants a Sasuke perspective. I haven't ruled it out yet! All I ask is that people trust me when it comes to the narrative, and know that I will put one in if I think it benefits the story.

_Guest (who mentioned Susu)_: Yes, poor Susu indeed. _Guest (who mentioned emotions)_: Thanks! I will try. _Guest (who was forced into commenting): _I'm aiming to become a professional writer, so I guess that's a good thing? I hope Monomoth continues to entertain you. _Devours_: Oh wow, 5k reviews. That would be lovely, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, and try to get to **500** first. _Noadri_: This is totally unrelated to your review, but I love your username! And thank you. I love writing horror, but trauma is a really important issue for me, and its good to know that Sakura's reactions are believable. As far as everything that happened between Sakura/Sasuke, it will be explained in time, don't worry.

_B4: _I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much, and that you like Susumu. Concerning Sakura's illness: you will find out more about it later, but I guess its safe to say that it's a combination of things. _Guest (who read 40 million times): _I'm sorry I can't update quicker. I really am. _Papernoted: _I'm sure there are cultural differences involved, but I also think it's skill level in terms of writing. I personally think Kishi's great at _ideas_ – at coming up with the basic idea/blueprint for a character – but not at executing them to a satisfactory level. _Duuuuuuuuude Guest: _Glad you're enjoying this story! I definitely plan to finish it, but as for how long it will go on… I'm not sure? It will get done when it gets done, but I don't plan to drag things out. I **am** thinking of doing a story about Sakura and Itachi, however. Something non-massacre.

_Guest (who hoped I was alright)_: I'm okay. Incredibly stressed atm, but that's kind of normal for me. I'll manage. _Fangirl_: I'm glad this seems like a suspense or sci-fi thriller, because I absolutely love those genres to pieces. And yes, there will be romance in this story, but I gotta warn you, it will probably be dark. I definitely plan to finish this story. As I've said before, you all have to calm down on the update thing! I've only been gone for two weeks. That's not that long, right?

And finally, _Justreviewing: _I could definitely explain loneliness to you, but I don't think I could do it justice in such a short amount of space. The condensed version: I think loneliness is a quiet death. It creeps up on you, and by the time you know it's there, it's too late. It tastes like ashes (and I'm unfortunately very familiar with it).


	7. Pale Thing, Loyal Thing

A/N: Spelling errors have been fixed.

Chapter VII: Pale Thing, Loyal Thing

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><p>The screaming started that night.<p>

The screaming started, and once it did, it didn't stop. But before that, they made their back towards the border between Kusa and Ame with a frenetic zeal brought on by the sure promise of death. Their eyes were wide as they peered through the gloom for any trace of danger, limbs quivering with the strain and their breathing labored. The creature was behind them, and in front of them too, and as they drew towards their previous position the smell of fire became overwhelming.

As the impenetrable trees began to meld into a sea of mushrooms, the forest canopy opened up, and Sakura could see that the sky was black with smoke. There was a thick layer of it lingering just above the tops of the white, gangly plants, and the air was so thin with lack of oxygen that all of them started to cough. Even Sasuke.

"Are those your flames?" Sakura finally managed to ask in between muffle gasps. Sasuke shook his head, one slim hand holding the collar of his shirt over his nose, the other gripping Juugo around the waist. The large nin was pale and feverish, and eventually, as the hours dragged on and Sasuke dragged him forward, the former Taka member fell unconscious. Sakura supposed this was a blessing. He was in a tremendous amount of pain, and there was something wrong with his wound. She didn't have time to stop and check him.

About halfway to their original campsite, Aya veered sharply to the right, heading towards the northern part of Kusa's border. Sasuke automatically followed her lead, so the rest of them complied, too. They didn't run towards the border – they didn't have enough energy for that, and they couldn't waste their chakra – but they did walk as quickly as possible, keeping low to the ground so as to not breathe in too much smoke, weaving in and out between the giant mushrooms.

The entire time, Sakura was overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness.

It had started when they had found the creature in the woods, and even though she'd tried with all her might to forget the sensation, she seemed unable to stop the torrent. The creature had been massive, and it was everywhere: fast, primeval, and able to nullify all attacks by rendering chakra useless. Fuck, she was terrified of it. She'd barely seen more than a couple bony ridges and a gelatinous mass above the edge of a tree, but everywhere she went, Sakura felt trapped by it. By Sasuke, by the weakness of her own body, by the expectations of her position as a medic nin. It was like slowly drowning in a puddle of water while someone held her head to the ground, and no matter how loud she screamed no one came to save her.

But the screaming. The **screaming** was what finally did her in. Sakura had though Sasuke would be the one to make her crack, but no. No, her own demons were much, much worse than anything the Uchiha could conjure up, and in her complacency within Konoha, she'd forgotten that.

Still, other things came before the breaking. Before the crunching, and the rending of limbs.

After what remained of their party turned to follow Aya, they didn't stop, making their way steadily through the brambles and gnarled mushrooms until the tubers eventually thinned out and gave way to grass. Overhead, the smoke clouds turned to thunderheads. It wasn't raining yet, but the air felt thick with it, and above them the clouds were so dense they were the color of puce. Off in the distance there was a rumble of thunder and the flicker of lightning. The darkness of the sky contrasted sharply with the vibrant green of the endless meadow, which was intersected only by an occasional, lonely looking mushroom, standing like a sentry on the flat, desolate horizon. The grass was so deep it came up to Sakura's shoulders, but still, she didn't feel safe.

Sakura knew if they traveled farther into Ame they would find the delta system, where there was so much water there was barely any land at all. But between here and there, there was no cover, and to the south, a bright orange gleam stretched along the horizon; the fire was still burning, eating its way across the landscape from Takigakure to the southernmost edge of Konoha. Sasuke's hawk Matsuba still hadn't returned.

The way across to Ame looked clear, for now – there was no fog, and no place to stage an ambush – but Sakura knew, and everyone **else** knew, that it didn't mean that the creature wasn't out there lurking. In fact, given their previous encounters, it was probably already lying in wait. Sakura didn't want to go anywhere – the hopeless had become so acute it was downright debilitating – but she didn't say anything. She was so stricken with fear that she just wanted to walk straight up to the creature and let it kill her, but she didn't admit so out loud. If she died, she was going to do it quietly, when the others weren't in immediate danger. And crossing a massive field with zero cover was definitely one of those times.

"Keep low." Sasuke said just before they attempted the crossing. "Use the mushrooms until we find cover."

No one said what was on everyone's mind: that they'd been at war with Ame before, but ever since Naruto had become Hokage they were on relatively good terms. And yet no one had come out to greet them, just like Kusa. Sakura smothered a scream of terror and forced herself to move after the others. _Faster, _seemed to be the unspoken mantra as they moved forward, _faster, __**faster**__, _but Sakura didn't want to move faster. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and hide in a self-made space of sensory deprivation. Gods, she was such a fucking coward.

She didn't trip like she had in the forest, although by the time they stopped Sakura wished she had, if only to knock herself unconscious. The place where they were finally came to rest was going to give her nightmares, she was sure. It was completely exposed and out in the open, and the only thing to distinguish it from the rest of the field was the fact that the grass was slightly higher here than in other places. If they'd used chakra to mask themselves, it might have been more bearable, but they couldn't risk it. Not when the creature seemed drawn to the source.

So now they were camped out, in the middle of nowhere, without a genjutsu to cloak their approach and the only thing to hide them being grass that was slightly taller than normal. Sakura liked it not at all. As they quickly unsealed their supplies from various scrolls, she peered outwards, towards Ame along the horizon. The sky was so dark that the daylight had dimmed dramatically, and on all sides there was a sea of bright green, broken only by the occasional fork of lightning striking somewhere in the distance.

If it rained, there was a good chance the area would flood. Morbidly, Sakura supposed it was better than burning alive. Burning took longer.

"Keep an eye out for ambush. If it finds you, run. Don't wait up." Sasuke told the assembled crowd, and then he fled along with half to the LSF to do what Sakura assumed was a perimeter sweep. He took Aya, the twins, Suigetsu, Ai and Etsuko with him.

The others didn't make a big deal about this, so Sakura didn't either, and chose instead to go about making her rounds while she still had some time. As predicted, Juugo was suffering from sepsis, which was well on its way to morphing into septic shock. The move have been too much, and as Sakura eyed him lying there on the ground, pale and shivering, she decided she couldn't cope with the despair. His, hers, or anyone else's.

Silently, she tried to stave off the sensation, using Juugo's pack to prop his head up before feeding him a cocktail of drugs in an attempt to reserve her chakra for when things got **really** bad. Her seal had been drained in the initial encounter with the creature, and if she ran out of chakra, there was no backup. Overhead, there was the crack of thunder, then the flash of lightning so bright it lit up everything in the area with eerie prominence. Sakura used the light to work by, imperfect as it was. She couldn't do much for Juugo out in the field, and desperately she wished they were already in Ame, where she would at least have access to a medical facility. Even a rudimentary one would have been preferable.

There was something off about the former Taka member. Something beyond the sepsis and the potential septic shock that had Sakura's insides tangling together with worry. As Juugo lay there on the grass, Sakura spied a weird _jumping_ movement around his severed joint that she assumed was a muscle spasm, but when she leaned close, she could detect the faintest hint of rot. Dreading the outcome, Sakura leaned even closer, lifting away his cloak and the remains of his shirt, before violently jerking away as the odor hit her full force. _Oh no._

"Kushimura." She said quietly, as he was the nearest nin next to her. "Can you help me for a moment?"

Without a word, the former Iwa nin shuffled over to crouch beside her. He was as gangly and as blond as Deidara had been, with his long hair pulled back in a ponytail and the bottom half of his face still hidden by his mask. Absently, Sakura gestured towards Juugo's head, even as a crack of thunder split the sky. A rumble went through the ground when the lightning hit, and Sakura shivered.

"Can you hold his other shoulder down?" She asked dully, pointing to where Kushimura should sit. "I need to make sure he doesn't move. It might… it will get painful." Wordlessly, Kushimura obliged, shifting around so he was crouched behind Juugo's head and pressing one hand to his uninjured shoulder. The other went to the larger nin's forehead.

Juugo didn't move, and without further delay Sakura took a kunai to his shirt, slicing it right off. When she did, the smell hit her full force, and she nearly gagged. What was causing it? The odor was far worse than anything you would get with septic shock, and if it that was what was causing it, it shouldn't have been that bad at this stage. Oh gods, she didn't want to do this. She didn't want to look under the bandages. For once, Sakura was terrified of being a medic. Across the horizon, another peal of thunder sounded, followed quickly by a flash of sheet lightning.

"Juugo." Sakura said softly, trying to get his attention. When he didn't move, Sakura put her hand to his cheek, giving it a light tap. He startled violently, opening his eyes, and Sakura was shocked to see that they were glazed over like a corpse's, as if he were already dead.

_Oh no. No, no, no. Don't think about it, don't think about the bodies –_

"Juugo, can you hear me?" She repeated, her voice shaking audibly. Juugo made a soft gurgling sound that was full of fluid and pain. Sakura fought the urge to clap her hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying.

"I just have to check your shoulder." She soothed. "But I can't… I can't put you under, understand? I need you awake. It will hurt a bit, but it will be over soon." He let out another wet, rasping gurgle. Sakura tried to smile for him, but failed. "Kushimura's here too, okay? He's going to help."

In response, the ex-Iwa nin squeeze Juugo's good shoulder. Sakura could feel several pairs of eyes watching them from various points around their makeshift camp, but the rest of the LSF made no move to interfere. Quickly, she removed a thick roll of gauze from her pack and wadded it up several times over, before handing it to Kushimura. He took it without compunction. "Make sure he bites down." She said, her words nearly lost to another crack of thunder. The storm was moving closer.

Sakura didn't look over as Kushimura took the gauze, nor did she move when Juugo made a gurgling sound while the other nin shoved the gag between his teeth. Slowly, Sakura began to remove his bandages, and almost immediately she was hit with a sickly sweet smell so strong she gagged. Kushimura gagged too. It was the stench of rotting fruit left out in the sun, the kind that attracted mold and flies. Absently, Sakura felt a presence come to stand behind her, and realized it was Susumu. She ignored him.

"Hold him steady." Sakura reiterated, and Kushimura nodded as she got back to work. She'd barely gotten past the first layer of bandages before they began to turn damp and red, and by the third layer in they were sticky with gelatinous kind of goo that made a _squelching_ sound as she peeled them off. Juugo gurgled, but did nothing else, and Sakura could feel her own heart rate increasing as a result. It wasn't blood, nor was it anything she was used to seeing, and the sort of oozing rot that was coming off him shouldn't have been there, because Sakura was **never **this careless with her patients.

Then she was peeling back the final layer of bandages, and when she did Sakura gagged and tried not to scream in horror. Beneath the wrap, his wound had completely reopened, and from the open, rotting hole dripped a clear, reddish liquid, mixed with the puss of infection and dozens of little squirming things that looked like maggots. They were eating away at his flesh. Around his wound, his skin was covered with boils.

Sakura thought of Naruto at the ramen bar, his noodles turning to worms and the way his teeth had crunched through bits of bone. Before she could stop herself, she was turning around and gagging hard enough to vomit, but her stomach was so empty that nothing came out. There was the brief patter of sandals rustling through the long grass, and then Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder, making sure she didn't fall all the way over. _Susumu._

_"Sakura." _He said softly, full of concern, and she didn't answer.

"What the fuck?" Spat Kushimura. It was the first time Sakura had heard him speak. There was a fog in her ears, and when the lightning flashed overhead, it lit up Juugo's glistening wound like a cross section of piebald ham; all bone and muscle the ever present maggots, circling around each other in rings.

"Bowl." Sakura said through her teeth, her hand gripping Susumu's to get his attention. "Get me a bowl. The metal one. Should… should be in my pack."

Without a word the tattooed nin moved away and crouched beside her satchel, ripping it open as he began to rifle through the contents. His expression was very much like it had been in the bamboo grove before the creature had found them: calm, and eerily blank. Kushimura stayed where he was, one hand pressed to Juugo's shoulder and the other held against his nose. Juugo just lay there, dead-eyed and gurgling, his reopened wound giving off a hideous scent like rotting oranges. The same smell as the creature.

Sakura tried her best to get a hold of herself. There would be time for her own horror later.

"It's okay." She said through her teeth, trying to ignore the stench; the way that Juugo just lay there as she peeled away the rest of the bandages. "It's okay, Juugo. I'll fix it."

One of the boils near his wound popped and began oozing as she accidentally bumped it, and Sakura choked back another dry heave. She didn't know how to fix it. She **did**, technically, but she didn't know what the hell was causing it, or even if she could stop it. Septic shock, she could understand, but rot to the point where he was being eaten by maggots, and boils like the plague? He shouldn't have had anything that bad so soon, especially with medical treatment. Oh gods, what if it was contagious? What if everyone else who had been injured by the creature came down with other symptoms, too?

_Sasuke_, Sakura though, _Sasuke, Suigetsu, and Aya. They were ripped open. They haven't come back._

"The metal one?" Susumu asked from somewhere over her shoulder, and Sakura nodded, sticking out her hand in anticipation.

"Yeah, the metal one."

He handed it to her. Sasuke and Suigetsu would want to say goodbye to Juugo before he died, Sakura thought, then amended _if_, even as she began to desperately draw the insects out of his skin with chakra. There was still hope. There had to be hope. But Sakura had none.

The maggots made a _plop-plip-plap_ sound as she deposited them time and again into the metal container.

"Does rot usually set in this quickly?" Kushimura asked, and Sakura shook her head, lips pressed together in a trembling line. Overhead, the thunder got worse, and every now and then an errant gust of wind would make its way across the field, causing the reeds to rustle and the grass to flatten in waves. Sakura worked on Juugo until the rain began to come down in spitting bursts, dampening her head and the tops of her arms. When it did, she took the bowl and had Susumu burn the squirming maggots to a crisp with a weak fire jutsu, before shoving the remains aside.

"Bandages." She said, holding her shaking hand out to the nin, and he gave them to her without a word. Sakura re-bandaged Juugo's wound, trying to avoid what boils she could, but the marks were spreading, and she had a sick feeling that the insects would be back within hours. She still didn't know what was causing them.

Briefly, Sakura considered using one of her summons to transport Juugo back to Konoha in the hopes of better care, but she didn't know how he'd react to it, and if what was happening to him was contagious. The strange boils spoke of some sort of disease – a rapid one – and she couldn't risk an outbreak in the village, or having him lead the creature back to Konoha. _Creatures, _she amended shakily as she tucked in the end of Juugo's bandages. **_Creatures_**_._

Along the horizon, deep into Ame, a large clap of thunder sounded.

Making sure his head was still propped up on his pack, Sakura covered Juugo with his cloak and bent one of his legs, rolling him carefully onto his side so he could rest without falling over or choking on his own spit and vomit. Then, she shakily beckoned Kushimura over.

"Here." She said, trying to keep her eyes from focusing on anything in particular. If she didn't focus, she couldn't see the worms. "H-here, you too."

"Why?" He said suspiciously, and Sakura still beckoned him forward.

"I have to check." She choked out. "Make sure it's not spreading."

"I thought he just lost an **arm**." Kushimura said, and his default reaction to panic seemed to be one of anger. Sakura could hear it in his voice.

"It might spread through contact." She admitted, even though she didn't know what _it_ was, then added. 'I don't know. Did you touch it?" Kushimura violently shook his head, but he'd been on the front line with the others. Sakura was undeterred.

"Let me check anyways." She insisted. "We… we have to be safe."

And then Kushimura was giving in and frantically stripping himself of his shirt and mask and anything else he still had on him, until he was sitting in nothing but his boxers. Sakura had to forcibly tell him to stop. When he did he sat there, waiting for inspection, tense and shaking and compulsively scratching at his arms. Gods, did Sakura know that feeling.

"Me too?" Susumu asked. Although his eerie calm was still present, Sakura detected a note of fear. She shook her head.

"No." She mumbled. "You weren't near it. Watch Juugo." He did.

Sakura examined Kushimura under the deepening twilight while lightning flickered overhead, quickly running her hands over his limbs and checking his back and under his armpits for any sign of boils, before using her chakra to do a deeper examination. The ex-Iwa nin was skinny as a beanpole and covered in bruising, but Sakura saw nothing on him to indicate that he was getting sick like Juugo. Most of the LSF who had been injured were on patrol with Sasuke, and just thinking about it made Sakura's insides tie themselves into knots. She needed to check them now. When there was still a bit of light.

"Any idea when the others will get back?" She asked over the increasingly loud patter of rain, and Kushimura jerkily shook his head as he shrugged his shirt on and hastily pulled his mask back over his nose.

"No." He said, his voice muffled. Sakura nodded and didn't say anything more on the subject, but before Kushimura could dart away, she motioned him forward again. "I need you to watch Juugo." She said. "At least until the others get back. Make sure he doesn't start choking, and doesn't get too wet from the rain. If he starts looking worse, call me. I'm just going to finish my rounds."

Kushimura nodded, and immediately Sakura got up and left, a crack of thunder sounding overhead. She didn't look at Susumu in the process, stopping only briefly to grab her pack from his proffered hands. The hopelessness was so deep she was all but drowning. She could barely find it in her to keep moving.

Quickly, Sakura went to see to the others, and because they were so closely spaced within the camp it didn't take her long to find them. Yamamori appeared fine, although the way his pale face reflected like a porcelain mask under flashes of thunder reminded her too much of Haku, and suddenly Sakura was having flashbacks to her childhood, with a Sasuke full of senbons and Naruto crying. Jin was okay, and so was Michi, albeit highly adverse to physical contact and downright skittish when she put her hands on him. Sakura knew that Hanabi had never come into direct contact with the creature, and as such she planned to leave her alone. Only, when she passed by the other kunoichi, she found her sitting with her knees bent, her arms braced atop them and crying so hard her cheeks were turning red. She'd been crying all day, really, ever since Hotaka, and Sakura didn't know when she'd stop.

She could barely mitigate her own pain, let alone concentrate on anyone else's, but still, Sakura tried. She crouched beside Hanabi, and above them the thunder _boomed_ and the rain began to come down in torrents, water dampening their exposed heads and dripping off their noses. Already, Sakura was shivering. It would be a miserable night.

"Want a pill?" She asked Hanabi, the words _for the anxiety _lingering between them. Sakura didn't ask if things were all right, because she knew they weren't, and useless platitudes were sort of insulting. The Hyuga didn't look up, staring at the ground turning to mud between her legs and her long chestnut hair coming loose from it's ponytail. She hadn't brushed it in awhile, and it was beginning to look somewhat matted.

"I don't know what to tell otousan." She mumbled in a deadened monotone. Above them, there was a loud crack of thunder. "He's good friends with Hotaka's family. It's going to kill them."

Sakura ran a hand over her face to clear it of water, trying not to think of how badly her hands were shaking even as another flash of lightning rippled quickly overhead. She was barely holding on by a thread, and she didn't know if she could handle this sort of conversation. Sasuke made her feel like she was drowning, but she'd rather drown in something familiar than **un**familiar, Sakura decided, and right now she kind of wished he was back to deal with the rest of his squad. She was feeling too sick and dizzy to play the role of a surrogate caregiver.

"It's not the first time someone from your clan's been lost." She said, and it was a cruel way to go about the conversation, but she didn't know how else to end it. Sakura was too tired to beat around the bush. Hanabi shook her head, running her hands over her own face as her tears intermingled with the rain.

"No." She warbled, and even in the depths of her misery there was something very regal about her features. She looked more like Neji than her sister, Sakura decided, and the resemblance hurt. "No, it's not the same. He was **murdered**."

Murder was a very apt way to describe it. There was something inherently brutal about the way the LSF were going down, slaughtered and defenseless, and in truth Sakura found it infinitely more horrifying than dying on the battlefield. She wanted to tell Hanabi that there was a chance that Hotaka was still alive, but she knew Hanabi wouldn't believe her, and to be honest she didn't believe it either. They had abandoned him, she and Sasuke. And she'd promised not to.

_Coward. You're a coward. A failure. _Sakura was choking on her own ineptitude, and all she wanted to do was to curl up and die. _Think of the others, _she told herself, but there were so few _others_ left. They were utterly exposed in the middle of a field, with no plan of action and nowhere to go. Sakura put a shaky hand on Hanabi's arm, squeezing slightly as she looked away. The rainwater was a constant irritant as it dripped off the tip of her nose. Ame. She hated Ame. She hated the rain and she hated the birds.

"You'll be fine." She said. "You will." It took everything she had to keep her voice from cracking, but Hanabi was so far into the depths of her own misery that she didn't pick up on Sakura's, and thankfully she didn't have her byakugan activated.

Without another word, Sakura left. She didn't get far. She'd been meaning to go back to Juugo – she didn't feel like she had the strength to deal with him at the moment, but she had to, because she was the medic – only she was barely fifteen feet away from Hanabi when she was forced to sink back to the ground.

Sakura clutched at her head as she sat where she fell, curling in on herself as she fought the sense of vertigo that was threatening to overwhelm her. Sick. She felt so sick. Sakura was soaked through from the rain, her pale hair plastered to her forehead and sticking to her neck in tendrils. Once again, she wished for her coat, but it was lost in the bamboo grove along with the corpses of her comrades. _Breathe_, she reminded herself, _just breathe, _but fuck did she feel dizzy, and remembering the way that Juugo's reopened wound had squirmed with maggots was making her want to hurl.

For a second there was a break in the rain, and then Sakura felt a blanket being draped over her back; saw a pair of nin sandals and bright red toenails as Susumu crouched in front of her. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself, trying to take warmth from it, but it was hard. She was so cold.

"Is Juugo okay?" Sakura mumbled, rubbing a shaking hand over her face. Susumu nodded.

Sakura sighed and kept her hand pressed to her forehead, cracking her eyes open a bit to watch as Susumu continued rooting around in his satchel. His usually fluffy hair was plastered to his head with rainwater, his white haori sticking to his shoulders and the contours of his chest like a second skin. It was so splatted with mud that it was turning sort of gray, and a small stream of water was dripping off his shallow nose; droplets of rain were tangling with his eyelashes. Susumu was shivering visibly, and Sakura suddenly realized that the blanket he'd draped over her shoulders was his own. She began to remove it to try and give it back.

"Here." She said, trying to still the audible chattering of her teeth, but she was unsuccessful. Susumu shook his head and stopped rooting through his satchel long enough to push the blanket back into her hands.

"You need it more." He said simply, and Sakura wasn't willing to argue the point, so she didn't. She tried not to think of the parallels between this conversation and the last one they'd had, before the creature had found them and everything had gone to hell. _Be constructive_, she told herself, huddling back into the fabric for warmth, but she was so dizzy, and her chest hurt.

Sluggishly, Sakura gestured to her own pack lying discarded just out of arms' reach. She still had to help Juugo.

"Can you reach into my pack and grab the other blanket for me?" She said. Without a word, Susumu stopped rummaging around in his own pack and reached over to hers, his slender fingers sifting through the medical supplies. When he found it, he pulled it out and leaned forward to give it to her, his eyes wide and expectant, but Sakura shook her head.

"Juugo." She mumbled. "Juugo needs it. He can't get a fever." Then she added, somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry, m'sorry, I would do it, but I'm –"

"It's okay." Susumu said quickly, and Sakura nodded numbly, fighting to keep back the drowning sensation and the buzzing in her ears. She was feeling so sick it was hard to concentrate from one minute to the next, and she couldn't tell if she was actually sick, or if it was just her anxiety rising up to kill her. Gods, wouldn't that have been fucking ironic. The timing couldn't have been worse.

She didn't hear Susumu get up, but Sakura knew he had. Overhead, there was another crack of thunder, and then the rain was coming down in a deluge, whistling against the tall green grass as it fell in undulating waves. Rain. Nothing but the rain and exposure. Sakura didn't know what made her more miserable: sitting out in the open under the torrent, or hiding in the suffocating old growth forests of Kusa. She remained where she was for a few more minutes, huddled beneath the blanket and trying to clear the fog from her head. Sakura didn't realize that Susumu had returned until she felt his hand on her shoulder, and then she **knew** there was something wrong, because he was crouched barely a foot away from her, and she hadn't even heard him.

"I think m'sick." She admitted as the rain dripped down her forehead, her pink hair sticking to her temples and her hands shaking beneath the blanket. She still had to do a thorough chakra check, but she was pretty certain even without it. It was time to admit it – even if doing so was terribly painful. She'd just have to deal with the fallout between her and Sasuke later, and Sakura **knew** it was coming. Oh, he'd never let her forget the error.

"Want to eat something?" Susumu said. "Maybe you'll feel better, then." And suddenly, Sakura realized he was holding a nutrition bar in his other hand, his upturned palm collecting rainwater as he waited patiently for her to take it. Immediately Sakura's mind flew to Juugo: to the maggots squirming inside his shoulder and the worms wriggling in Naruto's bowl.

Before she could help herself, her stomach was lurching and Sakura was gagging, shaking her head and slapping a hand over her mouth as she quickly turned away. Her back ached, her limbs were in agony, and the sudden jerking motion of her head had her feeling so dizzy she nearly fell over. Before she could, Susumu moved his hand down to clutch carefully at her upper arm.

"Sakura," He urged nervously, shuffling closer. Sakura shook her head and wouldn't look at it. "Sakura, **please** –"

"Not right now." She all but begged from behind her hand. There was water in her eyelashes, making it hard to see. Susumu's face was a white and red blur before her. "Juugo's arm, I can't – I feel sick."

"You'll feel better if you eat." Susumu insisted, far too quickly. "You will, I promise." He looked like a cat that had been doused in bathwater, twice as skinny with his clothes sticking to his skin. His thin back was hunched, his shoulders shaking. "Sakura-san, please."

"I **can't**."

"I won't tell Uchiha-san what happened." He said in a rush, moving close until their foreheads were almost touching, the nutrition bar held between them. "I promise. You just… you just have to eat. Just a bit. Until we get to Ame."

Sakura shook her head again and tried to move away, but he wouldn't let her. The others were too close for her to run without causing a scene.

"Let go." She insisted, and Susumu shook his head and bit his bottom lip, pushing the food towards her.

"If you don't take it, Uchiha-san will make you do it." He blurted out, and there was a slight waver to his voice that registered as desperation. "He will. He won't wait any longer. Please, just this once. I know you're nervous around him, I saw –" Sakura's heart dropped into her gut.

"What does Sasuke have to do with **any** of this?" She warbled. Another crack of thunder sounded. "Why are you watching me all the time?"

"Because Uchiha-san told me to." Susumu said without compunction, his eyes wide and almost innocent in their lack of guile. "I gave him my word."

And before Sakura could recover from the confession and ask him _why_, the pale nin was shuffling forward to protect their hands from the rain and slicing off the top of the packaging with his nails, before holding the nutrition bar out to her.

"Please, Sakura." He begged. "Uchiha-san will force you, otherwise. You know he will. He won't wait."

Sakura understood none of what was being said, except that she knew that Sasuke would. Tears springing to her eyes, she ripped the bar out of Susumu's hand and wolfed it down before her brain could process that she was actually _eating_, nearly swallowing it whole and choking on it in the process. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Susumu remained crouched beside her; so close they were almost touching, but not touching at the same time, either. When she finished the nutrition bar, Sakura sat there beneath the blanket, slicking her hair away from her forehead with a shaking hand as she let her tears mingle with the rain. She didn't care if Susumu saw. He'd seen worse, anyways.

"So you like Sasuke." She mumbled. It was a statement. She'd come to the realization that Susumu **really** liked Sasuke, somewhere between the first bite of torture and the next. His words were too specific for her not to pick up on it. The pale nin curled up beside her and rested his head on his knees, nodding numbly as he started towards her lap. Gods, he looked so small in the rain. So very thin, and cold.

"Yes." He said absently. His voice sounded very, very far away. "Very much."

"Why?"

"When I came to Konoha, he treated me better than the others." He mumbled slowly, still staring towards her lap. "He was nice." Susumu paused delicately, then added, almost as an afterthought. "But he makes you sad. So I get worried. That's why I said something."

_Sasuke's creature, through and through, _Sakura thought, and she was so, **so** torn, because Susumu was sweet and kind and ridiculously gentle, but an uncomfortable picture was beginning to form inside her head. Sakura didn't like the shape of it. Beside her, Susumu watched her from beneath white-blond eyelashes, shivering visibly, but saying nothing.

"So you watch me because Sasuke told you to." When Susumu nodded, Sakura felt sick. He seemed to feel no shame about the action.

"Why?" Oh gods, she'd almost trusted him. But how could she not? He was nice, so nice, and he was nothing like Sasuke. A slim hand reached out, pale fingers reaching for hers, but Sakura drew her hand away and wouldn't let him hold it. Susumu quickly withdrew and hid his own hands between his knees and his chest. He didn't try again.

"**Why**?" Sakura insisted, and the nin finally looked away. A flash of lightning blanketed the sky, and in the glare of it, Susumu's tattooed face was skull-like.

"You should ask Uchiha-san." He said softly. "When he gets back." Then he added. "You shouldn't hit him. He didn't mean it. He's just bad with words."

"He was insulting you." Sakura spat over the fall of the rain, and she felt like she'd been betrayed all over again. Susumu shook his head, fingers curling into fists against his chest.

"He wasn't." He insisted. "He's just stressed, always stressed. Please. He worries about you and the Hokage."

And Sakura didn't understand. Oh gods, it hurt her head just to try and wrap her mind around the concept. She had no idea what was going on between Sasuke and the rest of the LSF. She felt sick.

"Why are you so forgiving?" She asked. She wanted to say _why are you so loyal, _but it felt less like loyalty and more like something else, but she didn't really have the words for it at the moment. Susumu met her gaze head on, although there was befuddled apprehension in his eyes, as if he were having a hard time understanding why she was so confused in the first place.

"Because we're the same." He said in a very small voice, and didn't elaborate beyond that.

Sakura couldn't make heads or tails of the statement. She didn't want to. Above them, the lightning flickered.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Ugh. I'm sorry this is late. Holiday season is absolutely crazy for me, and I'm struggling to keep up. This chapter ended up being super long, so I had to split it in two – sorry if things are a bit confusing because of it. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. I'm thrilled you like the story so much, and that the OCs are being so well received. A bunch of ya'll are surprised that Sasuke's **actually** obsessed, but like… I warned you guys he was. It's right there in the summary. But this happened with the horror tag too, so I'm getting the sense that when I say that this story will be "dark," or rated M, people don't believe me. I'm accurate with my tags, people! Please heed my statements when I make them.

On a more serious note: I've taken down the links to my tumblrs. I'm sorry, I know a lot of people were looking for them (and most of you are great), but I put them up as a token of good will. Stalking me all the way to my personal FB and sending threats when I don't update quickly enough is really unacceptable. For those of you looking for my tumblrs: you'll have to find the links through another follower who managed to snag it before I took them down.

To those I couldn't PM:

_Mara M: _I'm not sure I can promise a happy ending, but I will do my best to give you a satisfying one. _Mo: _CALM DOWN MO, YOU'RE GONNA HURT YOURSELF. I didn't know this chapter was "prophesized," but I guess that's a good thing. I can't promise you that Sakura will get attacked (or that she'll die), but I can say that drama will continue to go down every chapter. As for stress: I will try, but it's been a constant for ages, so I've kind of resigned myself to its clutches. Writing helps mitigate the worst effects.

_Fangirl: _I like the twins too! But I'm totally biased towards my OCs, so you probably shouldn't take my word for it. _Papernoted: _For now, yes, updates will be every second Friday, but I'll let you guys know if anything changes. ALSO. I'm going to post the update schedule in my profile, so everyone can see any changes there. Re character relations: whatever happens between Sakura and Sasuke (or Susumu), I **can** say that it will respect all the characters' autonomy, without having to abandon them for their trauma. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive.

_Mayerdice: _Oh wow, I just checked out the grievers from Maze Runner. SO COOL! But not like the thing in Monomoth. _Aria: _Thanks! I'm glad to share my stories with others. _Ria: _I don't plan to stop writing. But as I've said before, I can't update any faster. _Justreviewing: _Then I guess I'm just a graceful sort of person (world's biggest lie, right there). Your loneliness sounds a bit like frustration to me. _Justafan: _I have been told my writing's intense before, but I figure this is a good thing? My aim is to keep people on the edge of their seats. _Guest (talking about next chapter): _Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this one too. _Guest (talking about Sakura's heart): _I live and breathe ominous. _Guest (officially addicted to this story): _There seems to a lot of addiction going around.

_Kallano: _I really like your username. And yes, I've heard this story is making the rounds on tumblr. I've been trying to make a better effort at checking my tags. _Anii: _Everyone's finding this through tumblr, it seems! I am very thankful to the tumblr folks for spreading the word. _Guest (who teared up): _My evil plan is working, then.

_Yura: _I've never seen SNK, to be honest. My lil' brother calls me a heretic. _Amea: _I would **love** to be amazing, but unfortunately I don't think I'm there yet. _Guest (asking if this is all a dream): _Aww man, you really think I'd pull a dream-within-a-dream sequence on you? That's some heavy conspiracy talk right there. But I assure you, I'm not that evil. _Guest (wondering at the greater purpose): _Fair enough critique. 50k words isn't that long for me, but I usually go back over my stories at a later date and tighten things up here and there, to make it flow faster. So there will be tweaks. Re the origin of Sakura's instability: it's coming, and as for mysteries I usually answer most of them (just never all at once). But I'm well aware this story isn't everyone's cup of tea. If yer mind wanders, it's totally understandable.

_Guest (who hates Susumu): _That's a shame that you think he's a gary stu. Unless you tell me exactly **why** they think he's one, however, your review doesn't help me much in terms of improving the story. _Guest (looking for an update): _YES, THE UPDATE IS HERE. PLEASE TRY TO ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. _Guest (talking about lil' Sakura and stressed out Sasuke): _Canonically, this is how I've always seen them? But I don't see it written that way in fics as often as I'd like. _Guest (talking about graveyard scene): _I enjoyed writing that scene a lot. _Guest (talking about PTSD): _I feel for your uncle. I really do. It's like walking around with Atlas' crick in your neck. Just breathing can be painful, and holy fuck do you get skittish.


	8. This Tenuous Despair

Chapter VIII: This Tenuous Despair

* * *

><p>When Sasuke and the others returned, they were just as soaking wet as the rest of them. The sun had set and the storm was out in full force, taking what little light there had been with it.<p>

After her confrontation with Susumu, Sakura had gone back to sitting by Juugo's side. When the LSF slipped back into camp, it was to find her sitting in a puddle beneath the blanket, shivering so badly it was almost to the point of spasms and using her own chakra to stave off hypothermia. With Kushimura's help, she was trying to keep Juugo dry by using the other nin's cloak like a tarp. It was too wet to start a fire, and without ample aid from their chakra, the whole lot of them were basically useless.

Sakura didn't say much when Sasuke first returned, except to tell him in a deadened monotone just how badly Juugo's condition had deteriorated. The Uchiha stood over him, looking down, his feet braced apart and clothes sticking to his skin. His dark hair was plastered to his head with rainwater. In the darkness, his skin was white like a corpse's, the sharingan glowing red.

Juugo would probably die, Sakura told him. He was rotting alive, and without access to a proper medical facility, the former Taka member was all but done for. She had to check them too, to make sure they weren't infected. She was sorry.

Sasuke said nothing, staring down at the larger nin with the rainwater dripping off his narrow nose. Beside him, Suigetsu started twitching. His lips twisted, drawing back to reveal too-sharp teeth, and then he was fisting his hands in his matted white hair and stumbling backwards, jaw clenched and face scrunching up with the force of his frustration.

"**Fuck**." Suigetsu ground out, and Sasuke paid no attention to him; just kept on staring down at Juugo, like a reaper waiting for the last breath of life so he could whisk his victim away to the underworld.

"Fuck!" Screamed Suigetsu, and then he was making a choking sound; turning around to let out a vicious, incoherent yell as he kicked angrily at the grass. When that brought no relief, he un-shouldering his sword and threw it like a boomerang into the rushes in his unbridled grief, clutching fiercely at his head.

"Hozuki!" Aya snapped, but Suigetsu wasn't listening. Muttering under his breath, he stormed off into the field and disappeared, sans sword.

"Well, that went well." Michi quipped, and Aya made a _tch_ sound with her tongue that made it clear that he was supposed to keep his mouth shut.

Sasuke still did nothing and continued staring. Juugo kept on lying there, oblivious to all. Aya angrily gazed at the two of them for a few moments, and then she was running her right hand over her face, slicking off the excess rainwater even as she told Michi to go fetch Suigetsu. Michi sneered harder, folding his thin hands over his chest. His sandy hair had turned dark with the rain, plastered in rivulets to his temples.

"It's not my turn." He said, but Aya wasn't giving in.

"It is now."

"It's not my turn!" He insisted, his voice rising to a whine. "If Hozuki wants to go off and get himself killed, he's more than welcome to. I'm not going back out there."

"Michi, don't be selfish." Etsuko sighed, but before Michi could respond Susumu was standing up without a word and going after Suigetsu, moving like a drowned ghost through the grass. Aya glared, but it was Ai who spoke next.

"Now see what you did?" She snapped at Michi, and Michi huddled up further.

Sakura didn't know what was going on – the closer she got to the LSF, the weirder their dynamic became – but right now, she didn't care. Sasuke kept staring at Juugo, and Sakura watched him, shivering violently and teeth chattering loudly as she huddled beneath Susumu's blanket. Cold. She was so cold, and it was so hard to get warm.

Eventually Sasuke moved, but when he did it was to kneel beside Juugo, holding himself very carefully as if he were in a great amount of pain. His shoulders were slumped with exhaustion, but his posture was rigid. Almost jerky. Slowly he reached out, lifting back the tarp so he could get a good look at Juugo's face.

Sakura watched as he ran a slim, water-logged hand over the other nin's forehead, slicking back his hair and slowly tracing his features with a surprising amount of delicacy. The sharingan kept on glowing, the pinwheel spinning lazily. His other eye was still swollen shut. Over and over again, Sasuke traced Juugo's features. The entire thing seemed almost ritualistic, and was downright morbid to watch. It was almost as if he were trying to memorize the other nin's right before they cremated him, and in a way, Sakura supposed he was.

"Can I move him?" Sasuke finally asked, his deep voice muffled by the constant patter of the rain.

"I wouldn't recommend it." Sakura said, but then she remembered the rot, how Juugo seemed to get worse minute by minute, and decided it wouldn't make a difference. "It won't matter." She amended, then added "Just be careful. He was in a lot of pain."

Aya watched her hawkishly the entire time that she spoke. Sakura could feel her gaze drilling holes into the top of her head, but tried to ignore her.

Sasuke said nothing, and Sakura watched with mounting dread as he leaned over the prone form of his former teammate, his limbs stiff like a marionette's. Slowly, Sasuke slid his hands beneath Juugo's cumbersome body, carefully picking him off the sodden ground so he was in an upright position, leaning the larger nin against his chest. He wrapped his arm around his lower back, using his left hand to shield Juugo's face from the rain.

Juugo simply slumped against him, mouth slack and eyes closed. The entire time he didn't wake, and for a brief, blinding second Sakura wished he would, if only to give Sasuke something to focus on. The way he just **sat** there, cradling Juugo, and the understated sort misery that was radiating off of him was so unnerving that Sakura had to look away. _Wrong, _she though, but Sasuke was right there, and Juugo was dying. _He shouldn't care that much. _But he did.

A moment later, Sakura felt a hand on her arm, fingers curling around her bicep covered by the blanket. She turned to see Aya standing beside her, slowly pulling her up.

"Come on," she said. Her voice was terse, but her gaze was focused on Sasuke for once. "Let's get you fixed up." It was a ruse, but Sakura followed it, letting Aya help her up and drag her along. It hurt too much to watch Sasuke grieving, and she had to check the Kunoichi over in the meantime.

Aya led her far enough away that they were out of earshot, but still within visual range of the others. When they stopped, she un-shouldered her gunbai, sticking it butt first into the mud with an angry sort of efficiency. Afterwards, she unsealed her supply scroll, gesturing for Sakura to sit down again, which she did. Sakura put a hand to her forehead, trying to will away the fogginess that resided there as thunder _boomed_ overhead. Beside her, Aya's black hair lit up like an oil slick under flashes of lightning, and when she moved, it rippled eerily in the dark. Once her scroll was unsealed, she sat down next to Sakura, ripping open her nutrition bar with more force than was necessary and violently biting into her rations.

Sakura felt sick just watching it. She knew that **Aya** knew she felt sick, and she knew that she didn't care. Nothing got past her. The kunoichi was a hard woman.

"So you may be Uchiha's former teammate," Aya began without permeable, speaking through a mouthful of food. "But if you hit him again, I'm going to separate your head from your neck."

Sakura hated her then, for a brief moment. She already blamed herself for everything anyways, but **not** that, and to have one of Sasuke's underlings tell her off was utterly unpalatable.

"Right to the point, aren't you?" She tried to snap, but her teeth were chattering so badly there was no force behind it. Gods, she felt so sick. Her chest hurt. Aya continued eating.

"Platitudes are useless out here." She deadpanned. "You follow orders or you die. I don't care if you do, but Uchiha does. We need him functioning."

"Don't like me much, do you?" Sakura said, but Aya shook her head in the negative and spoke through another mouthful of food.

"You misunderstand me." She said. "I dislike _disorder_. We work as a unit. When you don't fall in line, people get killed." The assessment was true, and it burned. Fuck, did it ever. "When you question the Captain, things get worse."

Sakura looked over, towards Sasuke sitting there like a doll in the mud, and decided things were well on their way to being fubar without her.

"Ueda, he's young." Aya said abruptly, and suddenly Sakura was tensing for a whole new reason. She didn't look at the other kunoichi as she spoke. "He's soft, you see? Always has been. Never should have been a shinobi, but he's a clan brat. Clan brats always end up killing. He's got a good bloodline, and he's loyal. That's useful out here."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"So you'll know what to do in case I'm the next one to die." There was a cruel sort of calculus in the way she talked about her own death; as if it wasn't a sure thing, but if it happened, she wasn't bothered by the prospect. "Uchiha won't. He babies you. Someone has to say it."

"**Don't**." Sakura snapped, but Aya remained unaffected, finishing off the last bits of her nutrition bar and tossing away the paper. She pushed her sopping wet hair away from her face. Sheet lightning flashed overhead, and there was a rumble of thunder. Around them, the wind whistled through the field, making the grass undulate and flatten.

"Point is," Aya continued, utterly unaffected. "Unless you shape up, you're a distraction, and Ueda gets distracted an awful lot. I won't have you killing him through carelessness. Get your shit together, you hear? You're better than this. Us kunoichi **have **to be. Don't give the others a reason to look down on you."

Sakura wanted to scream, then. She wanted to slap Aya silly and rip out her long, glossy black hair, but she didn't. The other nin was right. Sakura hated herself in that moment, because even though the kunoichi had a point, it was so hard to work towards it. She was so tired. It was so hard to see past the hopelessness.

"How's your wound?" Sakura asked, desperate for a change of topic. Aya shrugged nonchalantly.

"Leg's a bit stiff, but nothing I can't manage."

"No fever?"

"No."

"What did you see out there?" Sakura asked, and Aya pulled out a kunai to sharpen it, even though the rain was coming down in waves. There was a frenetic sort of energy about her that was strangely contained. Always, she seemed to be busy.

"There's more than one." She said, confirming Sakura's worst fears, and when she added, "we're surrounded," Sakura felt like dying.

"No matter which way we go, we're going to run into them." Aya continued. "Don't think they know we're here, and personally I don't think they care. But if we get close, they'll spot us. Chakra is a dead giveaway." She paused, as if thinking. "When we get close to Ame, we're gonna have to run for sure."

Sakura covered her face more firmly with her hands, shivering beneath her blanket. When she felt a heavy weight across her shoulders, she peaked out from between her fingers to see Aya covering her with her own blanket, just like Susumu. She wanted to ask _why_, because Aya didn't seem the sentimental sort, but decided to remain silent. Silently, Sakura tried to draw a bit more strength from its warmth.

"Do you think Ame's even there?" Sakura said, voicing her deepest fear, and the sound Aya made was a snort of disbelief.

"Do you think Kusa is?" She asked, and Sakura remembered the silence of the forest, the lack of nins, and knew that was answer enough. After that, they said nothing to each other.

Eventually, Susumu returned to the camp with Suigetsu in tow, and Sakura watched from a safe distance as the former mist nin came to stand beside Sasuke and Juugo. His posture was listless. Susumu stepped back to give them some space, and Sakura watched as his gaze roved around the camp, before finally coming to rest on her. His posture went rigid when he took in her proximity to Aya. Then, he seemed to relax, eyelids going heavy and shoulders slumping as he gracefully drifted into the long grass, disappearing from view. Sakura was torn between wanting to talk to him, and never wanting to see him again. _Sasuke's creature, _the words repeated in her head, but the LSF were **all** Sasuke's creatures: an extension of him, like lethal limbs attached to a very damaged brain.

Suigetsu eventually crouched beside Sasuke and Juugo, and even though there was something very reluctant about the movement, his lip drew back in a painful mockery of a smile as he began to talk. Sakura watched as Sasuke seemed to blink, slowly cluing in to the other nin's presence; it was the first time that he'd moved since picking up Juugo. As he spoke, Suigetsu put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and Sasuke finally shifted the larger nin in his arms and handed him off to the other Taka member, albeit reluctantly.

Suigetsu took Juugo readily enough, putting him back on the ground and covering him up with several blankets and the tarp. Quickly, Sakura looked down and tried to pretend that Sasuke wasn't moving towards her, but then Aya was standing and making herself scarce, and Sasuke was there. Sakura could really ignore him anymore, but she tried. She didn't think she could take another argument.

His feet and sandals were splattered with mud, the nin bandages wrapped around his calves soaked through with the rain. It was all Sakura could see for a moment, as she refused to look up, but then Sasuke was squatting in front of her, his hands slack as he draped his arms across his bent knees. Up close, he was all black and red and pale white skin, and if he she hadn't know who he was, Sakura would have thought him to be the prettiest thing ever. The stark contrast between his skin and his hair suited him well, even ragged as he was, with bags of exhaustion under his eyes and one half of his face swollen from where she'd slapped him.

Sakura sat there, shivering beneath Susumu's blanket and trying not to meet his gaze, but Sasuke wasn't looking at her, either.

"Can you do anything for him?" He mumbled, and Sakura felt her heart break, just a bit. His shoulders were hunched, his head bowed.

"Not really." She admitted, and her own ineptitude hurt. "I don't have the right tools out here, and he's fading too quickly."

"Is it chakra?" He asked, and for a moment Sakura didn't understand.

"Pardon?"

"Is it chakra?" He repeated, and he still wouldn't look at her. His shirt was plastered to his broad shoulders, and it was raining so hard there was water running from the tips of his fingers. "If I gave you some of mine, would it work?"

Sakura felt her stomach roil at the thought of coming into contact with Sasuke's chakra in such an intimate manner, but managed to gain a hold of her emotions and quickly shook her head. In the back of her mind, the question was nagging, though, and it was hard to concentrate on anything else. _Susumu. Susumu. What did you tell him to do?_

"No." She said, and she managed to keep her voice relatively steady. "It's not so much a question of chakra, so much as that he's fading too fast for me to figure out what's wrong with him." She paused, then added "The worms, they were eating him."

Sasuke's head remained bowed, his arms slack across his knees, letting himself get soaked by the rain. He looked too much like that day when she had first come across him kneeling before her parents' grave.

"Please." He finally choked out, and Sakura's heart officially cracked. She could hear the loud _snap_ in her ears; the tinkling of porcelain pieces scattering across a non-existent floor.

"I'm trying." She said, but he still wouldn't look at her. Shakily, Sasuke reached up and rubbed his swollen eye with the flat of his palm. "I'm trying, I really am, but we need to be realistic –"

"Please." He repeated, bowing his head even further, still rubbing at his eye. "Please. I'm sorry I said those things. I was wrong."

Sakura felt sick in a way that had nothing to do with how foggy her head was, or how badly she was shivering.

"Do you seriously think that?" She spat, and Sasuke wouldn't meet her gaze. "Do you seriously think I would let him die because I'm **mad** at you?" Sasuke had nothing to say to that, and his silence spoke volumes. But in an instant, all Sakura could focus on was how defeated his posture looked, how tired he seemed and how he wouldn't stop rubbing at his eye. She couldn't take it.

"Stop." She said, reaching out with a shaking hand to grab his, her teeth chattering. "Just stop, okay?" She pulled his hand back from his eye, putting a hand to the swollen side of his face as a green glow slowly crept over her fingers. "I don't – we'll talk about it later. When we get back."

It was the hardest thing she'd had to say in years. It **burned** to say, because Sakura was so far from okay with what he'd said and what he'd done to her again and again that she never wanted to apologize for anything, but Aya was right. The others could be killed through her carelessness. She'd bite the bullet for them if she had to.

Sasuke said nothing, sagging into her palm. Overhead the lightning flashed, and each time it did, the bruising on his face lessened.

"Ame might have something." Sakura said absently, her thoughts meandering back to Juugo. Another _crack _of thunder sounded. She didn't want to give him hope where there was none, and things were **so** hopeless at the moment, but the medic in her refused to be silenced.

"If we move quickly enough, maybe we can find an outpost, and more supplies. It might be enough to stave off the infection." Sakura paused, and was very careful with how she worded the next bit. "I can't go, though. I mean, not at the same time." She sensed Sasuke's attention on her, inescapable and intense. "I'm… I'm too slow. I'm sick."

There was a moment of heavy silence, where all she could hear was the thunderous patter of the rain, and then Sakura felt Sasuke's hands come up; slim, callused fingers unfurling on either side of her face to slide tentatively across her cheeks and cup themselves behind her ears. His thumbs pressed carefully against her temples. Sakura shivered violently at the contact, avoiding his gaze as her mind flashed back to another time; a time when they were both too young and covered in blood, her parents' mangled bodies lying on the ground between them.

She didn't draw back all the way, but Sakura did draw in, hunching her shoulders defensively as she finished healing the left side of his face while she huddled beneath her blanket. The silence was unbearable as she waited for Sasuke to make some sort of sniping comment – to drive home her mistake to make her feel like dirt – but oddly, he didn't.

"Do you still have the boosters?" He asked, and his voice was hoarse. Sakura blinked dumbly in the rain, thrown off by his line of questioning. When she finally realized what he was asking, she bit her lip, nodding her head between his hands. She still wouldn't look him in the eye. It wasn't that she was afraid of the sharingan, but something felt off about his quiet acceptance of her admittance – about just how close he was to her – and it put her decidedly on edge.

"Yeah." She said, withdrawing her hand from his face. "But I can't keep taking them. They're too hard on my system. What I really need is rest. Rest, and to use my chakra to fix it. But I need to conserve it for Juugo. The others, too."

"'Kay." Sasuke mumbled. He rocked forward on his heels a bit, still crouching, and a moment later Sakura felt his forehead _thunk_ softly against hers, wet with rainwater and partially covered by his hair. His hands curled deeper around her face, their noses so close they were practically touching. It was as if they hadn't gotten into an argument at all – as if they **hadn't** spent the past eight years avoiding each other like cockroaches – and it was too much, too soon. Sakura flinched violently, drawing her hands close to her chest and huddling in on herself, but Sasuke huddled with her, never letting go.

"Sakura -" He began.

"You're too close." Sakura mumbled. It was a pitifully weak response, but she felt like she had to say it. Her chest hurt so much from the proximity it was a struggle to breathe, and she wasn't entirely sure that it was all in her head. One of Sasuke's thumbs made a swiping motion back and forth across her temple, and he closed his eyes, long black eyelashes sweeping against her brow as he swallowed visibly.

"No running, alright?" He said, coughing once to clear his throat, and it took Sakura a moment to realize he was talking about her being sick. "No combat, either, if you can help it. Just stay close. If it starts hurting too much, tell me or Aya."

His fingers began to slide beneath the rim of the blanket covering her head, but the action spooked Sakura so badly she tried to jerk away. She couldn't do it. Fuck, she could call a temporary truce between the two of them if she had to, but this, this was too much. She knew Sasuke was needy at the moment, knew he was hurting, but she couldn't help him. Naruto. She needed Naruto to distract him, but Naruto wasn't there. There was a _boom _of thunder overhead.

"Sasuke, you're too close." She repeated, her voice cracking, but all he did was press his forehead more firmly against hers, his grip unnervingly gentle as he cradled the sides of her head. He wasn't supposed to be gentle. Uchihas never were.

_Sucks to be you. _Karin's voice rung in her head, and Sakura agreed with her.

"I won't hurt you." Sasuke croaked out, and he was so close all Sakura could see was a mass of pale skin and inky black hair, his breathe ghosting across her cheek. "I won't. I promise."

Sakura would have laughed hysterically at the absurdity of it all, but she was so tired and cold that all she could manage was to curl up further, which only made Sasuke move closer. His proximity was making her panic. _Bodies. Don't think about the bodies_, she tried to tell herself, but all she could remember was their blood on his hands, her parents dead eyes staring upwards. All Sasuke had ever done was hurt her.

"Sasuke, stop." She said in a very small voice. She wished she had Aya's backbone – wished her **own** backbone would appear, right about now. "Please, you're too close."

"I won't –" He began, and then he stopped, cutting himself off before trying again. "I don't – you don't have to be scared of me. I won't hurt you. Please." Before Sakura could help herself, she was lashing out.

"You're _Uchiha_." She spat, and he visibly flinched against her. Instantly, Sakura felt horrible, and wished she could take her words back. Out of all of Sasuke's faults, out of all the things he could change and all the things he was guilty for, being Uchiha wasn't one of them. She felt guilty and she didn't want to feel guilty, because **she** was the aggrieved party. Only the walls were closing in around her, and Sakura could feel the weight of everyone's gaze; judging her, blaming her. Finding her unworthy, just like Aya. And Sasuke seemed oblivious to it.

"I'm sorry." He said, and there were so many things he could be sorry for that Sakura didn't know which one he was referencing. Sasuke's forehead was still pressed against hers, the wet, waterlogged fingers of his right hand tucking her equally wet hair around the shell of her ear. Sakura couldn't stop shivering.

"Why'd you make him tail me?" Sakura asked, trying to distract him, and it seemed to take a moment for Sasuke to realize that she was talking about Susumu. Once he did, he leaned back a bit, turning his head away. Getting him to talk about anything personal was always a burden, and Sakura knew if he hadn't been so shaken by Juugo's rapid collapse, it would have been all but impossible to broach the subject.

"Because you recognize my chakra." He said, somewhat stiltedly. He rubbed a tired hand across his face, slicking away rainwater and ragged hair. He looked like Madara, crouching before her. Fuck, did he ever look like Madara, only the expression on his face – that sort of twisted, slowly-growing despair fighting to break free – was all Sasuke. The dissonance between the two was horrifying. "I can't hide it, like I used to." He admitted. "Naruto… Naruto says I need to give you space."

Sakura would have been flabbergasted by this line of reasoning, if it hadn't been so predictable. It was such a _Sasuke_ thing to do that she felt more heartbroken by it than anything else. Genius on the battlefield, Sasuke was, but emotionally competent the Uchiha was not. Itachi had shattered the pieces of his psyche, and then Madara had walked all over the shards with glee. Sasuke wasn't really a whole person, Sakura thought in a brief moment of clarity, and probably hadn't been for many years.

"Sasuke," she said slowly, bringing her hand up to rub at her forehead. "Giving someone their space does **not** mean that you get someone else to do your stalking for you."

At any other time, Sakura would have described the expression that crossed his features as one of frustration, but Sasuke seemed to be so shaken by their current crisis that it came off as something closer to desperation.

"Kaasan died when I wasn't there." He choked out, and Sakura felt sorry for him. She was sick, and all she wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep, but her sense of empathy wasn't quite dead yet. Not even for Sasuke, even if he didn't deserve it.

"I'm not your kaasan, Sasuke." She said through her chattering teeth, and Sakura thought it was very, very pertinent that she made this point.

"I know."

"I'm not an Uchiha, either."

"I want you to be." He blurted out, and the words were half strangled, his expression twisted in distress. Horrified, Sakura shrunk in on herself, putting a shaking hand to her face and covering her eyes to try and forget he was there. He didn't know what he was saying. He couldn't have. He was just bad with words.

"Oh Sasuke-kun," she breathed, rubbing her hands across her eyes to keep herself from crying. Overhead, there was another _crack_ of thunder. "Please, this is the wrong time." It would never be the right time, but she didn't tell him that.

Sakura heard a shuffling sound in front of her, intermingled with the rain, and when she looked up it was to see Sasuke with his elbows braced on his knees and his hands tangled in his hair, head bowed and shoulders hunched as he rocked back and forth on his heels, just a bit.

"Might not get another chance." He admitted hoarsely, and he sounded as miserable as Sakura felt. "Naruto told me to wait, but it didn't work." Sasuke stopped, his voice cracking badly, before he started again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I fucked up."

Sakura may have been low on patience and high on panic, but she wasn't without a heart. And although the most charitable feeling she associated with Sasuke was pity these days, Aya's words rang in her head. Just because she could barely stand being in Sasuke's presence didn't mean that she was allowed to shirk her duties a medic. Sakura's panic lessened a bit, and even though she was sick – even though her chest hurt and the world was spinning - she felt more clear headed than she had in days. Sakura hadn't expected to be in such close proximity to Sasuke for so long, and it had thrown her for a loop, but she was determined to find her balance.

Desperately, Sakura wished for the deadened malaise that had plagued her in Konoha, the one that had allowed her to function so efficiently. _Think of him like a patient. _It worked, sometimes.

"When we get back to Konoha, we can talk about it." Sakura assured him, although she knew there would be no _later_, and Sasuke had no way of knowing that. She reached out then, fingers trembling, and in the bravest move she'd done in years, Sakura carefully placed her hand atop Sasuke's. It was the first time she'd touched him without a medical reason in ages.

She didn't know why she did it. She did, sort of, because Aya's words were ringing in her head, but Sakura was terrified of Sasuke and terrified of the past, and almost immediately upon touching him she regretted it. She jerked her hand back, drawing it to her chest and huddling up beneath her blanket. It was too much. Too much, too soon, and her chest hurt. She didn't like touching his hands. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was the red; Sasuke's crimson fingers, sticky and coated in gore.

She could remember it as if it were yesterday; the way he'd reached out for her, grasping childishly. How he'd cradled her face between his hands. He'd tasted like copper, when he'd kissed her. Like copper and ash and death. Beautiful boy with the bloody pinwheel eyes, her Sasuke had been. And oh, Sakura had adored him to pieces.

"It's okay," He'd said that day, half hysterical as he smeared her parents' blood across her cheeks. "It's okay, we're safe."

"Sorry." Sakura said, her mind abruptly back in the present. She didn't really know _what_ she was sorry for, but she suspected it was for reaching out to touch him. Really, she shouldn't have done that. "I talked to Aya." She said, desperate to change the conversation, even as she heard Sasuke shift on his feet in front of her. "She says we'll have to run."

But then Sakura felt his hands again; felt Sasuke shift forward all the way so he was leaning against her, wrapping his sodden arms around her shoulders as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Even through the blanket, Sakura could feel his warmth. A frenetic sort of energy, begging to be set free.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I'll fix it."

Sakura sagged against him, then; pressing her own forehead against his shoulder as she let her hands pool limply in her lap. She felt tired. So tired. She just wanted to sleep.

"Yeah." She mumbled. "Yeah, okay."

Sasuke's arms tightened further around her shoulders, and even though she didn't return the gesture, Sakura didn't try to stop him. It wasn't like Sasuke would listen, anyways. Nothing ever changed between them.

* * *

><p>After that, Sasuke stayed close.<p>

"There's six of them, between us and Ame." He said, as what remained of the LSF huddled together in a miserable circle next to Juugo's body, while thunder and lightning flashed overhead. "There's more behind us, too, but we couldn't ascertain how many."

Sasuke used a kunai to draw lines in the dirt while he talked, and Sakura watched as he sketched a rough approximation of a map of the surrounding area into the ground, the grooves quickly filling with rainwater. The twins were trying to keep it from being completely washed away by the storm by hovering over the circle with one of their blankets, stretched between then like a tarp.

"Once we reach Ame, we get care for Juugo. Signal Konoha for help." Sasuke ran his thumb along the edge of his kunai almost absently, before reaching forward and drawing another line in the dirt. "If Ame's compromised, we take what supplies we can and head for Konoha anyways. It's vital we warn them, so they can reinforce the borders."

"What if they already know?" Yamamori asked, and everyone knew he meant _what if they've already been attacked_. Sasuke's expression was blank as he spoke.

"Assume that they don't. Getting tactical info to them supersedes everything else."

Sakura watched the way his hands moved as if in a trance.

His voice was muffled sounding, like there was cotton in her ears. She was currently sitting between him and Hanabi, and Susumu was on the other side of the Hyuga, biting nervously on one of his sharp red nails. Suigetsu was parked beside Juugo, and Aya was sitting on the other side of Sasuke, her gunbai shoved into the dirt.

"So we're running?" Kushimura asked, and Sasuke nodded, going back to running his thumb along the edge of his kunai.

"We can't avoid them." He admitted, and it brought such a feeling of hopelessness to her that Sakura shuddered. As she did so, Sasuke shifted close, his free hand reaching around to grip the fabric of her blanket along her lower back.

"We're spitting in to two teams, main and decoy." He contined. "Aya will lead decoy. Kushimura, Etsuko, Ai, Suigetsu, you're with her. Jin, Yamamori, Michi, Hanabi, Susumu, Sora and Shun are with me. Sakura and Juugo too."

"**Fuck**." Ground out Suigetsu, and he spat into the grass beside him, running his right hand through his matted hair. "Fuck, I hate being decoy." As he spoke, he turned angrily to Aya, pointing a threatening finger in her direction. "Bitch, you try to cut me again during the assault, and you're done for."

The kunoichi sneered and said nothing. Sasuke ignored them both.

"Once we're halfway to Ame, the teams will split. I'll send out another summon. Yamamori, you send off your summon, too –"

"Which one?"

"Suzumebachi."

"Alright."

"After that, Aya will start the diversion. The _things_ don't care that we're there, unless we get too close. Chakra attracts them. The goal of the diversion is not to engage, understand? Never engage. Just get them moving so it creates a big enough hole for us to get through to Ame." Sasuke paused, then said "Once the main team is through, kill your chakra and lay low until they lose interest. Then move through the gap and meet up with the main team in the village."

"How big are they?" Susumu asked, still biting on his sharp red thumbnail. He didn't sound nervous, per say, but definitely hesitant. Sasuke's response was deadpan.

"Big. The closest one was nearly a kilometer long. Remember, they move fast."

Sakura gave up trying to fight the dizziness. The cold was too much for her. She leaned against Sasuke fully then, without meaning to do so, her head _thunking_ against his shoulder and her cheek pressing against his arm. When she sagged against him, Sasuke's arm went more fully around her back, pulling her close and keeping her upright at the same time. His shirt was completely drenched, and Sakura could feel solid muscle beneath the fabric. Everyone in the group seemed to be studiously avoiding his behavior, and Sakura was too tired to care if they saw.

"I could lay out a bone field, once we got through the gap." Susumu said. "Maybe extend the range for several miles. It would give the decoy team more time to escape." As he spoke, lightning flashed overhead. His red tattoos appeared near black in the darkness. Ghoul like, he was, and deathly.

"Sure." Sasuke agreed, at the exact same time that Aya said "no." Susumu looked between them, yellow eyes reflecting flashes of light as he waited silently for confirmation. Suigetsu turned angrily to Aya.

"Bitch, are you trying to get us killed?" He spat. Hanabi clutched at her head.

"Puddle, shut** up**." She ground out, and the expression on her face was so pained that Suigetsu actually looked guilty. Aya ignored her, pointing an accusing finger at the former mist-nin, even as she jerked her head in Susumu's direction.

"He'd have to stay still to maintain the field. I won't let him."

"Alright. Listen here, you crazy bitch." Suigetsu began. "You ain't the Captain, and until you are –"

Susumu's expression was carefully neutral as he interrupted them, his posture brittle.

"I can do it." He inisted, his voice soft but firm. He didn't look towards Aya or Suigetsu, but to Sasuke, who watched them all with an unreadable expression. "You know I can."

"See?" Suigetsu said, sweeping his hand in an expansive gesture towards Susumu. "Susu-chan will be fucking fine. Always has been."

But Sakura had stiffened when the conversation had started, making a wordless sound of protest as she began to sit up. Because _Susumu_, Susumu had a little sister who was all alone in Konoha, and his little sister didn't deserve a corpse.

Sasuke's gaze briefly went to her as she began to struggle, before Sakura felt his hand tightening in the folds of her blanket and he turned away. The rainwater was dripping in a constant stream off the tip of his nose, now, and rivulets of it were running down his back between his shoulder blades.

"No bone field." He said, and Aya visibly relaxed. Susumu's head turned, his big yellow eyes focusing almost blankly on Sakura, his lips slowly pressing into a thin, unhappy line. Across from them crouched between the twins, Etsuko sighed and put a tired hand to her forehead, her bare arm dripping with excess water and dark hair made even darker by the rain.

"How are we going to kill it?" She asked, and no one said anything, but they were all thinking the same thing. "I mean literally, how are we going to get rid of it, even if we do get word to Konoha? We have no way of fighting."

Sakura didn't look at Sasuke, sitting as she was squished between him and Hanabi, but she watched as everyone else did, their eyes tired but almost hopeful. Sasuke was brutal when he wanted to be, though, and he **sucked** at throwing others a proverbial life-line.

"I don't know." He admitted. "We'll adapt or we'll die.' There was a pause. "We leave at first light."

Around them, the rain worsened.

It was coming down in torrents, now, and because they were out in the open with no chakra to aide them, things became even more miserable. Ai and Etsuko were on guard duty first, so they got up and drifted away. But the rest of them: they hunkered down beneath their blankets, trying to stay as warm and dry as possible. They were mostly unsuccessful.

Still feeling like she was in a fog, Sakura got up to check on Juugo, but it was raining so hard she couldn't do a thorough examination of his wound without risking further contamination. He was a little less wet than the rest of them because of the tarp, but that was it. Suigetsu sat beside him, back hunched and expression despondent as he rubbed at his eye with the heel of his palm. Sakura looked sluggishly in his direction.

"Are you sure your wound isn't bugging you?" She asked, and he nodded.

"I'm fine." He snapped. "Fuckin' peachy."

Sakura didn't press the subject. Around them, the rain increased until it was howling.

The rain itself wasn't that cold, and Ame in general was a rather warm country, but there was only so long one could sit in the water before it began to get to a person, and soon everyone was huddling together in groups of twos or threes to keep warm. Sakura stayed where she was, not really processing she was still awake and staring at Juugo, but eventually, Sasuke came to sit beside her. Sakura didn't realize he was there until she felt a warmth at her side, followed by the presence of his upper arm pressing against hers through the blanket. She shivered, blinking fitfully, and decided that she preferred the forest of Kusa over the fields of Ame. Another day in this sort of weather, and she'd be done for.

Above them, the lightning flashed in sheets, intersected by sharp cracks of thunder that were so close they shook the ground beneath them. Everywhere there was the constant howl of the rain. The reeds waved in the tropical gale, back and forth, over and over again, and whenever there was a particularly strong gust of wind they would flatten in waves, showing silver undersides that made a _pitter-patter_ sound as the rain fell down on them in torrents. If Sakura thought about it long enough, the storm almost sounded like someone screaming.

"After the war," she began, staring out at nothing. "The wind bothered me a lot. It sounded like someone crying." She didn't know if Sasuke heard her at first, but then she felt him turn just the slightest bit, his head cocked in her direction as he listened. Suddenly, Sakura felt very foolish for talking. "I think it just reminded me of the corpses." She continued miserably. She really didn't know what she was saying, or why she was saying it to **him**. She wished she hadn't.

Sasuke didn't say anything, but then through the thickness of her blanket Sakura felt his hand go around her back, drawing her close as his fingers kneaded in the fabric. Sakura pretended she didn't feel it, because if she pretended Sasuke wasn't grasping for her again – if he wasn't sitting right next to her – then she could keep her panicked feelings to a minimum. But the wind really was picking up, and it really **did** sound like screaming. Human screaming, muted by the rain, but not so much that she could convince herself she was imagining it. The creature had sounded human, too, when it had snuck up on them in the bamboo grove.

"Sasuke." She said numbly, and she felt his hand tighten against her lower back. "Sasuke, I can hear it. The screaming." She could. It was getting louder.

Sakura saw his free hand reach up, white and pale and wet as it slid beneath the blanket to cover her ears. "It's just the wind." Sasuke assured her, and there was a slight edge of desperation to his voice. "You're imagining it."

But she wasn't imagining it, and it wasn't the wind. Sakura's hand flew up to grip Sasuke's wrist, stopping him from covering her ears completely as green chakra flared around her fingertips. She wouldn't be tricked again.

"Sasuke, someone's **screaming**." She insisted, and from the way Sasuke suddenly tensed, she could tell that he'd finally heard it, too. There was a flash of lightning that lit up the field, and then Sakura saw it.

The outline of something massive, rising up like a thorny behemoth above the grass as it slowly meandered towards them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: Monomoth is going on hiatus until the end of January. If I find time to post, I will, but at the moment I have a lot of deadlines coming up for my original writing which I have to meet, and my illustration biz is picking up as well. Regular posting should resume in February.

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. As always, it's wonderful hearing from you, and it's great to know that this story is being so well received. A special thank you to the tumblr folks, because as of now I think half my traffic is being driven from there.

For those I couldn't PM:

_Dillpops: _Angst is always a very good tag for the sort of stuff I write. And thanks! I'm hoping to get through it, too. _Guest (who wants to cry): _Don't worry, you make sense. My opinion on crying is that it's good, so long as it's cathartic for your readers. _Justreviewing: _I used to suck at writing, honestly. I mean, I've always loved it, but it's taken me a lonnnnnnng time to get to where I am now.

_Guest (who thinks Sakura's stupid): _Well, people under a lot of mental strain don't usually make the best decisions, but to each their own, I guess. _Dane21: _It wasn't that many, honestly. Just one really, really persistent idiot (with a couple of sock puppets) out of a lot of really good people, but I have a zero tolerance policy towards threats and abusive behavior. Re Susumu and Sasuke: in general, Sasuke's team is fanatically loyal to him, but the reasons behind why this is will be discussed in later chapters.

_Mo: _This chapter was **all** sasusaku moments, so I hope it satisfied you. Re Susu: well, what do you think? From what you've seen, do you believe he's the kind of character that would fake affection, especially with how deeply he cares about his sister? I haven't read _Scrolls_, tbh. The only Naruto fics I'm reading right now are _The Long Road Home, In Times of Peace, To Duel with Fate, Expedient, _and _Fate's Allotter_. Good god do I love _Fate's Allotter_. Kist, you have not updated in ages. I'M DYING, HERE.

_Gogo: _Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the chapter. _Papernoted: _THE TYPOS WERE THERE. I SWEAR THEY WERE, BUT I FIXED THEM. It feels very weird for me, writing this after the end of Naruto – like writing an alternate history? Technically I am, I guess. As for tumblr: I honestly don't mind getting msgs through tumblr. It's just the threats through FB that creeped me out. Re Susumu: he's not lying, per say. Just withholding information. But everyone in this story is. _Valerie: _I'm so glad I'll never have finals again. As for Susumu not liking Sakura – I never actually said that. And neither did he. All Susu admitted to was watching her on Sasuke's orders. Watch yo' clues. I hide them everywhere.

_Loi: _Well, I am going on hiatus, but it's not for long, and it's for very mundane, work-related reasons. So don't worry. _GuildedWitch08: _Monomoth is the most horrifying thing in the Naruto fandom, eh? I feel like I should get a badge for this. Re smut: I have no problem writing it, but this site has pretty prudish guidelines, and I'm too lazy to post elsewhere. _Guest (who thinks possessive Sasuke is disgusting): _Honestly, I'd love for Sakura to run off and live far, far away too. I think it would be good for her. _Leon: _I'm not sure how original this plot is? Basically what I set out to do is twist tropes, so I purposely pick the most cliché things possible and then subvert it to make it interesting. So I'd say it's a combination of the two.

_Guest (asking about Sasuke's love): _Well, you're just going to have to wait and see, won't you? If you're asking "will there be character development/arcs," then the answer is yes, but I never go into spoilers. _AppleD: _Monomoth is a portmanteau. I made it up. As for being a fan of psychological thrillers, no, I don't think it's weird or unhealthy. I think people enjoy angst for the same reason they enjoy really good humor: because it's cathartic, and relatable on a very basic level. _Kara: _Yes, I've been told this is like SnK (and I still haven't watched it). As for endings – I can't promise you anything one way or another, but I would definitely say hope. Hope is good. I'm not going to keep readers hanging or unsatisfied.

_Guest (wondering about nightmares): _Good. I'm aiming to get you guys thinking about Monomoth 24/7, anyways. Means I'm moving in the right direction, in terms of the story.


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